
FROM LIFE SIZE CRAYON TAKEN IN 1879. 



FILIAL TRIBUTE 



TO THE MEMORY OF 



REV. JOHN MOFFAT HOWE, M.D 

£ 



1889 




54498 




EXPLANATORY. 

All the children of Dr. John M. Howe unite in the 
loving memorial contained in the following pages. It has 
been prepared at their request by his brother-in-law, 
Rev. John M. Reid, D. D., not with a view to general 
circulation, but to furnish to his numerous descendants 
some knowledge of a life worthy of study and imitation. 

The genealogical and historical facls have been collecled 
and, so far as possible, verified by his son, George R. Howe, 
who was led into these researches by his father. 



THE FAMILY COAT OF ARMS. 

Creation. — The most Noble & Puissant Ld. Charls. How, El. of Lancaster, & Bn. How of 
Wormleighton ist comisr. of ye Treasury, ist Gentn. of ye bedchambr. to his Maj., Kt. of ye 
garter, & one of ye Govrs. of ye Chartr. house. Creatd. Bt. How of Wormton. in ye county of 
Warwick, Novr. 18. 1606, in ye 4th of James ye ist. & EI. of Lancaster, Jun. ye 8th, 1643, m y e 
19th of Charls ye ist, of this famy. which derivs. themselvs. from a youngr. branch of ye ants. 
Bns. How's, men fams. many eges Since in Engd. among which were Hugh How ye father & Son 
great faverts. of Kn. Edwd. ye 2d., John How, Esqr. son to Jn. How of Hodinhull in ye County 
of Warwk. 




Arms. — He bear'th Gules, (Red) a Chevron (pointed arch) Argent, (Silver) between 3 cros- 
croslets Or, (Gold) 3 Wolfs heads of ye Same crest on a wrath (or wreath) a Wyvern or Dragn. 
partd. per pale Or &° Vert (Green) perced through ye mouth wth. arow, by ye Name of How, 
ye wolfs are ye fams. arms, ye cross, for gt. accts. don by ye ist El. 

The above is a facsimile of the original Coat of Arms said to have been brought from England 
by John Howe about 1630, and adorned the walls of the "Wayside Inn," or Howe Tavern, in 
Sudbury, for over 150 years. 




I. 

THE HOWE FAMILY IN AMERICA. 

[The following introduction is from the " Howe Family Gather- 
ing," a pamphlet published by Elias Howe, Esq., of Boston, in 
187 1, to whom the Howes of America are much indebted for the 
great interest he has taken in the common family history. He 
says :] 

" r I A HE number of those who bear the name of 
JL How, or Howe, in America, is very great; 
yet they may, for the most part, be traced to James 
and Abraham Howe (perhaps brothers), of Rox- 
bury, admitted freemen in 1637-38 ; to Edward 
and Abraham Howe, of Watertown ; to Daniel and 
Edward Howe, of Lynn; and to John Howe, who 
was in Sudbury as early as 1638, and who died in 
Marlborough in 1687. 



5 



6 The Howe Family in America. 



"Of these early settlers, James was the son of 
Robert, of Hatfield, Broad Oak, Essex Co., England, 
and died in Ipswich, in 1 702 ; Edward, of Lynn, 
came over in the Truelove, in 1635, and died in 
1639, leaving issue from which most of the Howe 
families in Connecticut have descended. Daniel, of 
Lynn, after holding several public offices in Massa- 
chusetts, removed to Southampton, on Long Island. 
They were all honest, hardy, vigorous men, having, 
in the main, large families, which, multiplying and 
increasing from generation to generation, have, by 
their industry, genius, probity and valor, aided in 
laying the foundations and in building up the struc- 
ture of this Republic ; and they are now found busily 
engaged in the various trades and professions, arts and 
industries of life, in almost every section of the Union. 

" So far as known, but one of them was ever exe- 
cuted for a crime, and that was Mrs. Elizabeth Howe, 
of Ipswich, hung for witchcraft in 1692; but her vir- 
tues, just as those of her great Master, sanctified the 
altar ; and her name, now as the mists of superstition 
break away, becomes illustrious." 

At the Howe family gathering, held August 31, 
1 87 1, at Framingham, Mass., Hon. Joseph Howe, 
Secretary of State of the Dominion of Canada, deliv- 
ered an oration, in which he says : 

" In England the Howes have lived and flourished 
for centuries. The Howe banner hangs as high in 



The Howe Family in America. 



7 



Henry VII. 's chapel as any other evidence of honor- 
able service, and the battle of the ist of June will 
be remembered as long as the naval annals of Eng- 
land last. In the old French wars for the possession 
of this continent, one Howe fell at Ticonderoga and 
another was killed on the Nova Scotia frontier. In 
the Revolutionary War the Howes were not fortu- 
nate. I have heard my father describe Sir William 
as he saw him leading up the British forces at the 
battle of Bunker Hill, with the bullets flying like hail 
around him. But I am apprehensive that in that old 
war God was not on the side of the strongest col- 
umns, and that the time had arrived when the peo- 
pling and development of a continent could not be 
postponed by the agencies of fleets and armies. 

"The Howes who have been ennobled trace their 
family back to the reign of Henry VIII., and seem to 
have held estates in Somersetshire, Gloucester, Wilt- 
shire, Nottingham, and Fermanagh, in Ireland. Jack 
Howe, as he was familiarly called, who was a mem- 
ber of Parliament in the reigns of William and Anne, 
was a fluent speaker, and, like a good many other 
people in those days, had a great dislike to standing 
armies. His son, who sat for Nottingham in the 
Convention Parliament, was one of those who estab- 
lished the liberties of England in 1688. 

" But many branches of the family are scattered 
all about England. I found three Howes, bearing 
my own family Christian names, lying side by side 



s 



The Howe Family in America. 



in' the churchyard at Newport, in the Isle of Wight, 
and I learned that in the western end of the Island a 
family of honest farmers, who are all Howes, have 
been living there on the same land beyond the 
memory of man. 

"I found three others, all males, lying just inside 
the graveyard at Berwick-on-Tweed. I could not 
hear of any Howes in the neighborhood, and I took 
it for granted that they must have been killed in 
some old border fight, which is not at all improbable 
if they came from the south side of the stream. 

"But, passing over the nobles and the plebeians 
of England, I must confess that there is one Howe 
of whom we may all be proud. This is John Howe, 
who was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and whose 
fine form and noble features are preserved in some 
of the old engravings. He must have been an elo- 

o o 

quent preacher, for he won his place by a sermon 
which the Protector happened to hear. That he was 
a fine scholar and learned theologian is proved by 
the body of divinity, written in classic English, which 
he has left behind him. That he was a noble man is 
proved, also, by a single anecdote which is preserved 
to us. On one occasion he was soliciting aid or pat- 
ronage for some person whom he thought deserving, 
when Cromwell turned sharply round and, by a single 
question, let a flood of light in upon the disinterested- 
ness and amiability of his character which will illum- 
inate it in all time to come. 'John,' said the Protector, 



0*- " ■•" 

The Howe Family in America. g 

1 you are always asking something for some poor fel- 
low ; why do you never ask anything for yourself? ' 
My father's name was John, and I have often tried to 
trace him back to this good Christian, whose char- 
acter in many points his own so much resembled." 

The Howes in America descended from those who 
settled in New England between 1630 and 1657, and 
the orator continues : 

" What was the Old World about, when these men 
came to America ? Why did they come ? are questions 
that naturally occur to us. In 1629, Charles I. dis- 
solved his Parliament, and no other was called in 
England till the Long Parliament met in 1 640. During 
the eleven years which intervened, we all know what 
was going on in England. Laud was Archbishop of 
Canterbury, Strafford was first Minister, and that 
hopeful experiment was being tried of ruling without 
Parliaments, which ended in the wreck and ruin of the 
monarchy. Within these eleven years, five of the seven 
Howes were settled in New England, and the reason- 
able presumption is that they found old England too 
hot for them. 

" They had no fancy for paying ship-money on com- 
pulsion, for having their ears cropped or for standing 
in the pillory for the free expression of opinions ; and, 
perhaps, foreseeing what was coming, they accom- 
plished what it is said Cromwell, Hampden, and others 
at one time meditated, and reached America before 
the civil war began. The earlier battles of Worces- 
2 



io The Howe Family in America. 



ter and Edgehill were fought in 1642, and before this, 
five of the Howes had made good their lodgment in 
America. If the two who date from 1652 and 1657 
were not born in this country, they may have taken 
the field ; but of the fact we have no authentic record, 

" It is enough for us to know that these ancestors of 
ours were God-fearing, worthy men, sprung from the 
sturdy middle class of English civic and rural life, who 
left their native country not because they did not love 
it, but because they could not stay there without mean 
compliance and tame submission to usurped authority. 
We would perhaps have been just as well pleased had 
they remained behind and struck a few manful blows 
for the liberties of England ; but we must accept the 
record as we find it, with this source of consolation, 
that no brother's blood was upon their hands when 
they landed in America. That they were men of worth 
and intelligence there is proof enough. They were 
freemen and proprietors in the townships where they 
settled; selectmen, representatives, officers, Indian 
commissioners, and seem to have brought from the old 
country, in fair measure, the common sense, industry, 
and thrift so much needed by the emigrant. 

" In turning to the Provinces, it must be borne in 
mind that but one of all the Howes in these States 
took the British side in the Revolutionary War. Of 
my father I spoke, some years ago, at Faneuil Hall; 
and my good friend, Lorenzo Sabine (one of the best 
writers and most accomplished statesmen produced in 



The Howe Family in America. n 



the Eastern States), has kindly embodied what was 
said, in his second edition of his ' Lives of the Loyal- 
ists,' to which I must refer those who take interest in 
the British-American branch of the family. To-day, 
I have leisure to say only this : that if it be permitted 
to the saints in heaven to revisit the scenes they loved, 
and to hover over the innocent reunions of their 
kindred, my father's spirit will be here, gratified to see 
that the family, divided by the Revolution, is again 
united, and that his son, to use the language which 
Burns put into the mouth of the peasant woman in 
his ■ Cotter's Saturday Night,' is 'respected like the 
lave.'" 

John How, who first settled in Marlborough, Mass., 
was a son of John How, Esq., of Hodinhull, in War- 
wickshire, England,, and connected with the family of 
Lord Charles How, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign 
of Charles I. The records show that the above 
John How was in Sudbury in 1639 ; that he took the 
freeman's oath in 1640, -was selectman and marshal in 
1642, and was the first white man to settle in Marl- 
borough about 1657; where he died in 1687. In his 
will, proved in 1689, he mentions his wife, Mary; 
Sons, Samuel, Isaac, Jonah, Thomas, and Eleazar; 
Daughters, Sarah Ward, Mary Weatherby ; — and, — 
John How, Jr., a son of John, deceased. 

Thomas How, ancestor of J. M. Howe, and son of 
John How, of Marlborough, Mass., was born June 12, 
1656, and died Feb. 16, 1733. He married Sarah 



12 The Howe Family in America. 



Hosmer, June 8, 1681, who died April 7, 1724, and 
on Dec. 24, 1724, he married Mrs. Mary Baron. His 
children were : Tabitha, born May 9, 1684; James, 
born June 22, 1685 ; Jonathan, born April 23, 1687; 
Prudence, born Aug. 27, 1689; Thomas, born June 16, 
1692; Sarah, born Aug. 16, 1697. 

Jonathan How, the next in our line, and son of 
Thomas How and Sarah Hosmer, his wife, born April 
23, 1687, married Lydia Brigham April 5, 1711. He 
died June 22, 1738. Their children were: Timothy, 
born May 24, 171 2, died Oct. 15, 1740; Prudence, born 
Nov. 3, 1 714; Bezaleel, born June 19, 171 7; Charles, 
born April 20, 1720; Eliakim, born June 17, 1723; 
Lucy, born May 20, 1726; Lydia, born April 12, 1729 
(died young) ; Mary, born Aug. 12, 1 730 (died 
young); Lydia, born June 29, 1732. 

Bezaleel How, the next in order, and son of Jonathan 
How and Lydia Brigham, his wife, was born June 19, 
1 71 7; married Anna; old records give no further name 
or dates, and an incomplete record of their children, 
as follows: Susanna, born 1740; Timothy, born 1742 ; 
Edith, born 1744; Darius, born 1746; Bezaleel, born 
I750. 

Bezaleel Howe, son of Bezaleel How and Anna, his 
wife, was born Dec. 9, 1755, according to the record 
in his family Bible, but was born, as we have seen 
above, in 1750, in Marlborough, Mass. His father 
died when he was very young, having either removed 
to Hillsborough, N. H., shortly before his death, or 



The Howe Family in America. 13 



his mother, a widow, took her little family there very 
soon after, which accounts for the imperfect record. 
Thus far our aim has been to follow only the direct 
line of descent from the settlement in America to the 
birth of Bezaleel Howe, Junior — the fifth generation 
— as follows: 1st, John How, in America previous to 
1639; 2d, Thomas How, his son, born in 1656; 3d, 
Jonathan How, his son, born in 1687 ; 4th, Bezaleel 
How, his son, born in 171 7; 5th, Bezaleel Howe, his 
son, born in 1750 or 1755 (the father of Dr. John M. 
Howe). He was the first to spell his name with 
the final e — Howe. 

The following is a complete record for the next 
two generations, and will enable any of the thirty- 
seven grandchildren of Major Bezaleel Howe to fol- 
low out any of the ever diverging genealogical lines. 
Bezaleel Howe married Hannah Merritt Sept. 16, 
1787, although the copy of the published notice 
does not exactly agree with this as to date ; for 
The New York Packet of Friday, Oct. 26, 1787, 
under " Marriages," published : " Howe : — Capt. 
Bezaleel married last Wednesday evening to Miss 
Hannah Merritt of Mamaroneck, Westchester Co., 
by Rev. John Gano (Baptist)." She died of yellow 
fever in New York, during the epidemic, Sept. 18, 
1 798, and was buried in the Baptist burying-ground 
of Dr. Parkinson's church, located on the west side of 
Gold Street, about two hundred feet south of Fulton. 
She left one daughter, Maria, born Jan. 6, 1789. 



14 The Howe Family in America. 



On Feb. 15, 1800, he married Catherine Moffat, 
youngest daughter of Rev. John Moffat and Margaret 
Little, his wife, who was born in Little Britain, 
Orange Co., N. Y., March 3, 1755. Their chil- 
dren were: Eliza, born Nov. 19, 1800 (died in 
infancy); George C, born Sept. 23, 1802; Mar- 
garetta, born Feb. 22, 1804; J onn Moffat, born Jan. 
23, 1806; Oscar, born March 11, 1808 (died in 
infancy); Julia Ann, born Oct. 4, 18 10 (died in in- 
fancy); Catherine, born Sept. 21, 181 2; Bezaleel, 
born Aug. 17, 181 5. 

Maria Howe (daughter of Major Bezaleel Howe 
and Hannah Merritt, his wife) was born Jan. 6, 1 789, 
and died in 1852. She married John Guion Nov. 23, 
1805, and became the mother of eleven children: 
Hannah, who died in infancy ; Edward Merritt ; John 
Howe ; Mary Jane ; Harriet Emeline ; William H.; 
Stephen B. ; Caroline ; Armenia H. ; Sarah Water- 
man ; Anna Maria (died in infancy). 

George C. Howe (son of Major Bezaleel Howe 
and Catherine Moffat, his wife), born Sept. 23, 1802, 
and died Dec. 4, 1841 ; married, May 24, 1832, Hester 
Ann Higgins, daughter of Michael and Betty Gregory 
Higgins, born July 16, 1808, and died March 15, 1884. 
Their children were : Mary C. Howe, born July 28, 
1833; married Mr. Henry L. Weller, Sept. 1, 1853; 
and married Mr. Chas. Widdifield, June 17, 1858. 
Harriet A. Howe, born Dec. 16, 1835; married Mr. 
Wm. J. Gilbert, April 8, 1862. Josephine E. Howe, 



The Howe Family in America. 



15 



born May 30, 1838; married Mr. E. Whitmore, June 
27, 1859. George Bezaleel Howe, born Oct. 5, 1841 ; 
married Julia Andrews, April 28, 1865. 

Margaretta (daughter of Major Bezaleel Howe and 
Catherine Moffat, his wife), born Feb. 27, 1804; mar- 
ried George Washington Dupignac, Aug. 1, 1820. 
Their living children were (Feb. 7, 1889): Bezaleel 
H., Elizabeth, George W., Theodore, Margaretta H., 
Richard C. P., Almira, Adelaide M., and Edwin 
Augustus. 

John Moffat Howe (son of Major Bezaleel Howe 
and Catherine Moffat, his wife), was born Jan. 23, 
1806; died Feb. 5, 1885; married Oct. 31, 1838, 
Mary Mason (daughter of Rev. Thomas Mason and 
Mary W. Morgan, his wife), who was born Aug. 10, 
18 1 8, and died Oct. 15, 1841. Their children were: 
Frances Ramadge, born Aug. 10, 1839 ; Mary Mason, 
born Oct. 10, 1841 (died in infancy). He then mar- 
ried Sept. 14, 1843, Ann W., youngest daughter of 
John Morgan and Elizabeth, his wife, who was born 
in Philadelphia, March 18, 181 5, and died Oct. 19, 
1844, after giving birth on that day to a son, John 
Morgan Howe. John Moffat Howe then married, 
May 7, 1846, Emeline Barnard Jenkins, youngest 
daughter of Barzillai Jenkins and Susan Barnard, his 
wife, born in Hudson, N. Y., April 16, 182 1. Their 
children were : George Rowland, born Oct. 21, 1847 5 
Edwin Jenkins, born July 2, 1849; Chas. Mortimer, 
born May 1, 1851 ; Ella Louise, born Nov. 16, 



1 6 The Howe Family in America. 

1852; Emeline Jenkins, born June 1, 1856; Susan 
Elanora, born Oct. 18, 1858. 

Catherine Howe (daughter of Major Bezaleel Howe 
and Catherine Moffat, his wife), born Sept. 21, 181 2, 
died March 4, 1883; married, Oct. 11, 1831, Samuel 
R. Spelman, son of Phineas Spelman, who was born 
June 29, 1 809, and died in 1885. Their children were : 
Jane Augusta, born Aug. 4, 1832, and married James 
M. Fuller, Dec. 18, 1851 ; Helena Wakona, born 
Sept. 5, 1834, died July 30, 1836; Mary Wakona, 
born Sept. 19, 1836, married Charles P. Cummings, 
Oct. 11, i860, and died July 22, 1874. 

Bezaleel Howe (son of Major Bezaleel Howe and 
Catherine Moffat, his wife), born Aug. 17, 181 5 ; died 
Jan. 18, 1858; married, Aug. 5, 1838, Jane Cordelia, 
daughter of Jacob Frank and Mary Barnet, his wife, 
who was born May 18, 1820. Their only child was 
Jacob Frank Howe, born April 20, 1848. 

From this point we resume our direct line of descent, 
and give the family records of the children of Dr. 
John M. Howe. 

Frances Ramadge Howe (daughter of John M. 
Howe and Mary Mason, his wife), born in New York 
City, Aug 10, 1839; married, Sept. 18, 1859, Rev. 
John Andrew Munroe, of Annapolis, Md., son of 
Rev. Jonathan Munroe and Matilda Keiser, his wife. 
Their children were: Francis Howe, born in West- 
minster, Md., April 11, 1862 ; Harry Keiser, born in 
Westminster, Md., Oct. 6, 1865; Milbourne, born in 



The Howe Family in America. 



17 



Westminster, Md., July 18, 1867; George Rowland, 
born in Passaic, N. J., July 24, 1869; Clinton, born in 
Newark, N. J., Nov. 29, 1873; John Herbert, born in 
Port Jervis, N. Y., Jan. 19, 1877 (died in infancy); 
Percy, born in Paterson, N. J., Oct. 8, 1878 (died in 
infancy). 

John Morgan Howe (son of John Moffat Howe 
and Ann W. Morgan, his wife), born in New York, 
Oct. 19, 1844; married, Oct. 17, 1866, in Paterson, 
N. J., Emma, daughter of David Roe and Emma 
Eliza Blois, his wife. Their children were: Grace, 
born in Passaic, N. J., April 13, 1868; Ethel, born in 
Passaic, N. J., Jan. 29, 1870; Bertha, born in Passaic, 
N. J., March 9, 187^ died March 19, 1875; Morgan 
Roe, born in Passaic, N. J., Dec. 23, 1873; Alma, 
born in Asbury Park, N. J., July 17, 1 88 1. 

George Rowland Howe (son of John M. Howe 
and Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in New 
York, Oct. 2i, 1847; married, June 11, 1879, m 
Homer, N. Y., Louisa Anna, youngest daughter of 
Paris Barber and Jane Eho, his wife, born Jan. 11, 
1854. Their children were: George Rowland, Jr., 
born in Newark, N. J., Dec. 20, 1880, died Sept. 
26, 1881; Herbert Barber, born in Newark, N. J., 
Oct. 25, 1882; Ruth Eno, born in Newark, N. J., 
April 22, 1886. 

Edward Jenkins Howe (son of John M. Howe and 
Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in Orange, N. J., 
July 2, 1849; married, Nov. 18, 1875, in Passaic, 
3 



i8 



The Howe Family in America, 



N. J., Sarah Louise, daughter of Henry P. Simmons 
and Sarah Van Wagoner Shelp, his wife. 

Charles Mortimer Howe (son of John M. Howe 
and Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in New 
York, May i, 185 1 ; married, Oct. 12, 1876, in 
Bath, N. Y., Margaret Ida, daughter of Caleb 
Augustus Canfield and Sarah Hall Withington, 
his wife, born Sept. 14, 1854. Their children 
were: Edith, born in Passaic, N. J., March 10, 
1878; John Canfield, born in Passaic, N. J., Sept. 
16, 1880. 

Ella Louise Howe (daughter of John M. Howe 
and Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in New 
York, Nov. 16, 1852; married, June 20, 1874, in 
Passaic, N. J., Ansel Bartlet Maxim, son of Thomas 
Maxim and Mary A. Gurney, his wife, born in South 
Carver, Mass., Sept. 8, 1836, died in Passaic, N. J., 
April 24, 1886. Their only child was Mary Maxim, 
born March 18, 1879. 

Emeline Jenkins Howe (daughter of John M. 
Howe and Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in 
Passaic, N. J., June 1, 1856; married, in Passaic, 
June 1, 1876, David Carlisle, born at Lisburn, Ire- 
land, May 27, 1844, son °f R- ev - J°hn Carlisle and 
Maria Harper, his wife. Their children were : 
Emeline, born in Passaic, N. J., April 27, 1877; 
Anna, born in Passaic, N. J., Aug. 10, 1880; 
Marion, born in Passaic, N. J., June 8, 1883; John 
Howe, born in Passaic, N. J., July 5, 1888. 



The Howe Family in America. 19 



Susan Elanora Howe (daughter of John M. Howe 
and Emeline B. Jenkins, his wife), born in Passaic, 
N. J., Oct. 15, 1858; married, Jan. 7, 1883, in 
Passaic, N. J., Byron David Halsted, son of David 
Halsted and Mary Mechem, his wife, born in 
Venice, Cayuga Co., N. Y., June 7, 1852. Their 
children were : Claire, born in Passaic, N. J., Oct. 
18, 1883; Edwin Howe, born in Passaic, N. J., Jan. 
27, 1888. 

Such is the ancestry of the family of John Moffat 
Howe, the subject of this memorial, and thus stands 
the family record, now at the opening of the year 
1889. It may appear, on various accounts, best to 
repeat some of these items in other connections, but 
it is thought well to place them also here, together at 
the very beginning of the memorial. 



II. 



INCIDENTS OF HOWE ANCESTRY. 
FROM THE OLD RECORDS OF MARLBOROUGH, MASS. 

JOHN HOW, as we have seen in the previous 
chapter, resided first at Watertown and after- 
wards at Sudbury, where he was in 1639. He was 
admitted freeman in 1640, and died at Marlborough 
in 1687 ; his wife Mary died at about the same 
time. In 1642 he was selectman in Sudbury, and 
in 1655 was appointed by the pastor and selectmen 
"To see to the restraining of youth on the Lord's 
Day." According to tradition, he was the first white 
inhabitant who settled in the new grant. He came 
to Marlborough about 1657 and built him a cabin, 
a little to the east of the "Indian planting field," 



20 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



21 



where his descendants lived for many generations. 
His place, recently occupied by the late Edward 
Rice, was situated some one hundred yards from 
Spring Hill meeting-house, a little to the east of the 
present road from Spring Hill to Feltonville. 

His proximity to the Indian plantation brought 
him into direct contact with the natives ; but by his 
kindness he secured the confidence and good- 
will of his savage neighbors, who accordingly, not 
only respected his rights, but in many instances made 
him the umpire in cases of difficulty among themselves. 
Once where a pumpkin vine sprang up within the 
premises of one Indian, and the fruit ripened upon 
the premises of another, the dispute which arose 
between them as to the ownership of the pumpkin 
was referred to him, and, inspired with the wisdom of 
a second Solomon, he called for a knife and severed 
the fruit, giving a moiety to each. This struck the 
parties as the perfection of justice, and fixed the 
impartiality of the judge on an indubitable basis. 
Nor was a sense of his justice and impartiality con- 
fided in by the Indians alone. When, in 1662, Thomas 
Danforth, Esq., made a demand upon the colony for 
a further compensation for his services, the court 
ordered "that he shall have granted him so much 
land as old Goodman Rice and Goodman How of 
Marlborough shall judge to be worth ten pounds, 
and they are empowered to bound the same to 
him." 



22 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



John How opened the first public house in that 
place, traditions say, in 1661, when there were but 
two taverns between his house and Worcester. About 
1670 we find his petition for a renewal of his license, 
and he speaks as though he had been some time 
engaged in the business. 

The descendants of John How were very numerous, 
though a portion of the Hows of Marlborough were 
of another family. When his will was admitted to 
probate, his property was inventoried at ^511. He 
gave Thomas " the horse he troops on." 

His son John — the father of John, Jr., referred to 
in his will (see preceding chapter) — was killed by the 
Indians in Sudbury, April 20, 1676. 

Elizabeth, a daughter of John, 2d, was taken captive 
by the Indians in 1692 at Lancaster, when she was 
visiting the family of a married sister ; all the family 
were killed except herself. She was held as a captive 
for three or four years, when she was ransomed by 
the Government and returned to her friends. She 
was about to be married when she was captured. 
Her intended considered her lost to him forever, and 
resolved never to marry, but on her return repented 
of his folly. Although she lived to be 89 years of age, 
it is said she never fully recovered from the fright of 
her capture. 

Thomas How, son of John How, 1st, and ancestor 
of John M. Howe, "was a prominent citizen in town, 
filled the principal town offices, represented the town 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



23 



in the General Court, rose to the rank of colonel in the 
militia, and was one of his Majesty's Justices of the 
Peace." He took an active part in the early Indian 
wars, and was in a severe action at Lancaster. He 
kept a public house in Marlborough in 1696. This 
was not, as some have thought, the Howe tavern of 
Sudbury, immortalized by the poet Longfellow as 
the Wayside Inn. This latter house was opened by 
his brother Samuel, son of John, 1st, who married 
Hephzibeh Death in 1700, and whose descendants 
kept the house until within the past few years, when 
the property was reported to have been sold. As his 
bond shows the spirit of the times, we will give the 
material portions of it. 

The bond provides that " He shall not suffer or 
have any playing at cards, dice, tally, bowls, ninepins, 
billiards, or any other unlawful game or games in the 
said house, or yard, or gardens, or backside, nor shall 
suffer to remain in his house any person or persons, 
not being his own family, on Saturday night after 
dark, or on the Sabbath days, or during the time of 
God's public worship ; nor shall he entertain as 
lodgers in his house any strangers, men or women, 
above the space of forty-eight hours, but such whose 
names and surnames he shall deliver to some one of 
the selectmen, or constable of the town, unless they 
be such as he very well knoweth, and will insure for 
his or their forthcoming. Nor shall he sell any wine to 
the Indians or negroes, nor suffer any children or serv- 



24 Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



ant or other person to remain in his house tippling 
or drinking after nine o'clock in the night. Nor shall 
buy or take to preserve any stolen goods, nor willingly 
or knowingly harbor in his house, barn, stable, or 
otherwhere, any rogues, vagabonds, thieves, sturdy 
beggars, masterless men or women, or other notori- 
ous offenders whatsoever. Sell or utter any wine, 
beer, ale, cider, rum, brandy, or other liquors, by 
defaulting or by color of his license ; nor shall enter- 
tain any person or persons to whom he shall be pro- 
hibited by law or by any of the magistrates of the 
county as persons of jolly conversation or given to 
tippling." 

Eleazer How (son of John, ist, and younger 
brother of Thomas) seems to have been a man of 
wealth. In his will he refers to silver spoons, a 
silver tankard, etc., which he leaves to his children. 

FROM THE NOTES OF REV. BEZALEEL HOWE. 

In the year 1844, Rev. Bezaleel Howe, of the 
New York Conference of the M. E. Church (who 
was born in 1780, and was a son of Timothy How, 
born in 1742), a cousin of John M. Howe, visited 
Marlborough, Mass., collected and made a record of 
many incidents that are of interest to the family. We 
quote from the original manuscript now in the posses- 
sion of his grandson, Bezaleel Howe, Esq., of Mont- 
clair, N. J. : 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



25 



" My grandfather's family consisted of Baxter, 
Timothy, Darius, and Bezaleel, the last named after 
himself. Baxter was a captain of artillery in the 
revolutionary army, and died of fever at Ethton, 
while the army under Washington was moving to- 
wards Yorktown. He left one son, Brigham Howe, 
of New York City. Timothy, my father, after his 
term of service in the French war had expired, was 
married in Stillwater, Saratoga Co., N. Y., to Eliza- 
beth Andrus, and shortly afterwards removed to 
Wyoming on the Susquehanna, where they lived 
until driven thence by the Tories and Indians in 
July, 1778, with seven children. My father was 
first lieutenant under Capt. Hewitt, who was slain 
with his whole company save nine men, of whom my 
father was one. He arrived at the fort about mid- 
night. The next morning a flag of truce came to 
demand its unconditional surrender. The bearers of 
the flag of truce were prisoners whose families were 
kept as hostages to secure their return. Col. Denison 
and my father, the only surviving officers in the fort, 
went out to meet them. As soon as they learned the 
terms, they knew no favor would be shown to any 
who were in the engagement of the preceding day. 
My father, therefore, gathered all these, and, with 
some provisions hastily thrown into a scow that lay 
near, shoved down the river, and escaped, leaving all 
the women and children to the mercies of the Indians, 
my mother and seven children among the rest." 



26 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



Although as a child he heard the story of his 
father's suffering and escape, he is unable to give 
any account of his father for the next two years. 

" About a year and a half before the terrible tragedy 
of Wyoming, there came to the settlement a Baptist 
minister, with his family, in destitute circumstances; 
and as Mr. Timothy Howe was himself a Baptist 
minister, he took the family into his house and, at 
great inconvenience to himself and family, kept them 
all winter, and assisted them to their destination, 
about sixty or seventy miles up the river, when the 
spring came. 

" In return for this, these people came in with the 
Tories and Indians, and the wife of this wretch said 
to Mrs. Howe, as she stood weeping with her chil- 
dren about her, after the surrender, and only the few 
necessary articles of clothing they were able to bring 
into the fort: 'Sister Howe, I am going to do just 
as I am a mind to, and if you know what is good 
for yourself you will not open your mouth ; ' and 
she then took from the family whatever she wanted, 
leaving them entirely destitute, while the wretch him- 
self in cold blood murdered a defenseless man to whom 
he was greatly indebted even for the necessaries of 
life. The enemy no sooner entered the fort than 
they began to affix the stigma of life and death on all 
that were found therein. My mother and her chil- 
dren received the mark of life, which was red. Amid 
the confusion that followed, my mother and children 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



27 



passed out of the gate of the fort, and, sauntering 
about as though they knew not what to do, at length 
got to the woods. Perceiving that they were beyond 
observation from the fort, those who were capable 
took the smaller children on their backs, or in their 
arms, and with their utmost speed made their way 
through the wilderness. The sun was about two 
hours high when they commenced their flight ; they 
traveled until dark, when hungry and tired they 
couched upon the bare ground in the midst of the 
wilderness. In the morning they arose with the 
light and proceeded on their way. For three days 
they found no habitation or human beings, except a 
few like themselves escaping for their lives, and had 
no food but a few berries. At the end of this time 
they came to a log hut, but found very little to sus- 
tain them there. After fording the Delaware River 
and several other streams, and enduring great hard- 
ship, they finally reached the Great Nine Partners in 
Dutchess Co." 

He does not know where his father was after his 
escape from Wyoming, nor how long he was sep- 
arated from his family. His father had some em- 
ployment in the public service that called him away 
from his family, and was sick in Boston at the time 
of his own birth and the death of his mother. His 
notes then refer to two other brothers of his father — 
Darius, who was a lieutenant in the revolutionary 
army, and had several children, and Bezaleel, of 



28 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



whose life we give the account, written by his own 
son, J. M. Howe. 

The Rev. Bezaleel Howe then takes up his own 
life, saying: " I was born at Tower Hill, Great Nine 
Partners, Dutchess Co., July 14, 1780, and my mother 
died two hours afterwards, leaving eight children, my 
father absent, and the family in destitute circumstances. 
We can hardly conceive of a worse condition than that 
in which we were placed ; not a relative to whom the 
children could apply for counsel or aid. We were all 
thrown upon public charity. The neighbors, however, 
were very kind, and took the smaller children until 
they could be provided for. On the third day after 
my birth, I was conveyed to Benjamin Fowler's house, 
and I here record that no child could have been treated 
more kindly." 

He was adopted by the Fowlers, and pays a touch- 
ing tribute to them. Evidently tender memories 
clustered about their home. While he was very young, 
the family moved to Danby, Vt, on the east side of 
the Green Mountains, and while here he first attended 
a preaching service, held in a barn by a Methodist 
itinerant. He married in 1800, and after some years 
entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His life was one of great self-sacrifice and devotion 
to duty. He was a man of ability and good judgment, 
a successful pastor, and died greatly beloved. John 
M. Howe wrote of him after his death: "I never knew 
a man of whom it could be said that he was without 



y 
v 







\ 



V 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



29 



guile more fittingly than of Rev. Bezaleel Howe." 
His children were : Benjamin, William, Silas, John, 
Timothy, Lucy, Abigail, Stewart, Robert. Of them 
John M. Howe wrote : "All his children were re- 
spectable and successful in their operations, and were 
highly esteemed." 

FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF JOHN M. HOWE. 

John Moffat Howe, the subject of this memoir, 
has made in his manuscripts a valuable contribution 
to the genealogy of the family, in the introduction to 
which, written February 16, 1874, he says: 

" I have often felt a desire to know about my an- 
cestors, but being very much occupied in the earlier 
part of my life, when there were many of my rela- 
tives living, I neglected to learn much that is now lost. 
Knowing that the same desire exists in the minds of 
my own children, although it is quite an effort on 
account of not being in good condition for writing, or 
much mental effort, I shall for their benefit record 
such reminiscences as I can, concerning my own ex- 
cellent father and mother, and their relatives, and of 
my brothers and sisters." 

He then refers to the notes of his cousin, Rev. 
Bezaleel Howe, and concludes: "As I write merely 
for the benefit of my own children and family, I shall, 
without much effort at system, record the thoughts 
that may occur to me, trusting that these few lines 



30 Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



may be an incentive to action ; to valuable and useful 
lives ; a comfort and encouragement under the diffi- 
culties of life. May the course of life pursued by my 
children be onward and upward until we shall all 
meet in heaven." 

The family of Bezaleel Howe, who was born in 
Marlborough, Mass., consisted of the mother, a 
widow (he has no recollection of his father), one 
daughter, and five sons, as remembered by Bezaleel, 
the youngest boy. We have no record of the daugh- 
ter's name. The sons were, Timothy, Baxter, Darius, 
Titus, and Bezaleel. John M. Howe, in his notes, 
says " His father was born in N. H., but I know 
not the town "; but this is evidently a mistake, as the 
records show that three sons and two daughters were 
born in Marlborough. But as the old record there 
is evidently incomplete (see genealogical record), it 
seems that one daughter must have died, or perhaps 
a wrong entry was made and one birth was not 
recorded at all. The family removed from Marl- 
borough, Mass., to Hillsborough, N. H., either just 
before or just after the death of the father. The old 
records and tax-lists of Hillsborough do not mention 
the name of Bezaleel Howe, but do mention one 
Baxter Howe as coming from Marlborough, who 
was afterwards a lieutenant in the Continental Army, 
in Col. Jonathan Brewer's regiment — evidently the 
elder brother of Bezaleel. They also mention one 
Timothy Howe. The adjutant-generals reports 




ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 3 1 

refer to Lieut. Bezaleel Howe as coming from Hills- 
borough, while the following letter of instructions 
was given him : 

* State of New Hampshire, 
In Committee of Safety, 
Exeter, 15 Feb'y, 1781. 

Sir : You being appointed one of the Recruiting Officers 
from the line of this State, you will receive from the Muster- 
Master at Amherst such men as he shall muster, and give 
your receipts to him for the same, to be by you forwarded 
to the New Hampshire line, agreeably to the Act of the 
General Court for raising and completing this State's quota 
of the Continental Army, passed Jan'y 12, 1 78 1. You will 
receive from the issuing Commissary, who is or may be ap- 
pointed at that place, such rations of provisions for yourself 
and party as you are entitled to receive in camp. You will 
likewise receive rations for the new recruits, agreeably to a 
vote of the General Court, passed Jan'y 26, 178 1 (a copy of 
which you have herewith), and give your receipts to the 
Commissary for the same. 



Lieut. Bezaleel Howe, 

Also to Joseph Boynton, Lieut. 

Thursday, Feb. 15, 1781. Ordered the Treasurer to pay 
Lieut. Bezaleel Howe, absent four years, thirty pounds in 

* Copied from the Provincial and State Papers of N. H., Vol. X., 
1749-1792, page 534. 



32 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



bills, of the New Emission, and to endorse the same on his 
first note for depreciation, £^0. 

7th Dec, 1 78 1. Ordered Noah Emery, Jun'r, to deliver 
to Lieut. Bezaleel Howe, twenty gallons of West India rum, 
and charge the same to the United States. (The above 
order was returned Jan. 19, 1782.) 

A letter from Lieut. Bezaleel Howe is on file at 
Concord, N. H., and is published in Vol. IX. of the 
State Papers, page 48, which we here give verbatim 
et literatim: 

Honour'd Sir: 

I am happy to informe you that the Late Resolution of 
the Honorable Cort semes to give new Spirits to the People 
in this Quarter — that they seme Determined to fill up the 
Continental Army for which Men are dayly Mustering. But 
chiefly for six months as Gen'l Nichols is uncertain whether 
the six months Men will Draw Rations here would Beg to 
be assured of the Matter. But if no order arive I shall isue 
Rations to them the 15 th Instant and on to cary them to 
Springfield. 

I almost Blush to informe you of the little worth of paper 
Money here — the new Emission Passes curent with them 
that have got it. But that's Not me and a Man that is 
mutch deprescated must Beg of your Honours Influence in 
the Committy of Safety to send me one hundred Dollars 
for which I will account for when ever could upon ashureing 
your Honour that I make use of all the econemy that I 
am Master of to live to prevent making expence to the 
State. 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



33 



Except My wishes for your health. And Believe Me to 
Be with evry sentiment of Esteem your Honours Most 
obedient and Hum bl servant 

Bez l Howe. 

Amherst, ioth of July, 1781. 

The Honorable MESHECH Weare, Pres't State N. H. 

Drafts, orders, and an original letter from Lieut. 
B. Howe, on file in Concord, N. H., a copy of which 
is given, supply the lacking places and dates very 
satisfactorily in every particular except that of date 
of birth.* 

John M. Howe writes of his father as follows: 

" About three weeks before the battle of Bunker 
Hill, officers were recruiting soldiers to withstand 
the British in Boston. On the morning when the 
soldiers were to march, my father stood looking on ; 
there was one of the recruits, described by him as an 
old man, surrounded by his wife and daughters, who 
hung about his neck and wept bitterly. The scene 
affected my father's heart, and with a dash he came to 
the man and said: ' Here, give me your old gun, and 
I will go for you ; and if the Government ever gets 

*I have always understood from in the Marlboro' records, is more 

my father that there was a doubt as likely to be the correct one than 

to the exact date of his father'sbirth, Dec. 9, 1755, as given in the old 

from the loss of records, or the neg- family Bible. But though this mat- 

lect to make any, and therefore ter be of some interest it is not of 

believe that the date, 1750, given great importance. — G. R. Howe. 

5 



34 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



able to give me a gun I will send your old thing 
back to you.' So, taking the old gun and cartridge 
box, he fell into line and marched to the music of fife 
and drum. 

" My father was present at the battle of Bunker 
Hill, but remarked that he was treated very badly, 
not being brought into action, but held with the 
reserve. As it was, he loaded and fired several 
times, but the old gun kicked so that it almost dis- 
located his shoulder, which caused him to desist. He 
continued in the army all through the war. Entering 
as a private, he was promoted from one position to 
another, and held three commissions as lieutenant, 
captain, and major,* all signed by General Washing- 
ton. 

"At the close of the seven years' war, he went 
with General Anthony Wayne in the Indian wars for 
about three years, and remained in the regular army 
for six years longer, in all, sixteen years. His father 
died when he was very young, and his mother was 
evidently in straitened circumstances, while, of 
course, opportunities for gaining an education were 
very limited. He received one quarters tuition at 
night school, and that he acquired by stealth. He 
said that had he had a competent education he 
might have received almost any office in the gift of 



* His commission as major is 
in possession of the Guion fam- 
ily; as captain is in possession 



of Dr. John Morgan Howe ; as 
lieutenant, I have no trace of. — 
G. R. Howe. 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



35 



the Government. That he was a brave, active, and 
efficient officer there is every proof. The fact that 
for the last six months of the war he was an auxiliary 
lieutenant in General Washington's own guard, as 
the following letter shows, is of itself sufficient : 

" I do hereby certify and make known to all to whom these 

presents shall come, that Mr. Howe, late a Lieut in 

the New Hampshire line of the Continental Army, was an 
officer of fair and respectable character, that he served some 
part of the last year of the war as an auxiliary Lieutenant 
with my own guard ; that he commanded the Escort that 
came with my baggage and papers to Mount Vernon at the 
close of the war, and that in all my acquaintance with him 
I had great reason to be satisfied with his integrity, intelli- 
gence, and good disposition. 

" Given under my hand and seal, this 12th day of May, 
1788. 

" G. Washington." 

We have a document dated Rocky Hill, Sep. 
30, 1783, and signed "Bez'l Howe, Comd't of His 
Excellencies guards." 

" Several of the wealthy young men in his own 
company felt annoyed that he should have been 
promoted from the ranks over them, and accord- 
ingly not only reported him as a Tory, but one of 
them went so far as to write to the commandant, 
giving these reports, and saying that he would desert 
at the first opportunity, and, as it afterwards appeared, 



36 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



orders were given to shoot him on the spot if he 
attempted such desertion. Very soon after, a fierce 
engagement took place, in which the Continental 
Army was successful ; and at its close the officers re- 
paired to the commander's marquee to pay their 
respects and offer congratulations. My father, with 
spirits not much elated, went also to make his best 
bow, but was greatly surprised on entering the tent 
to have the general rise, extend his hand, give him 
a cordial greeting, commend his bravery, and say 
that he should report him for promotion. Nothing 
more was ever heard of his being a Tory, and he 
became a favorite with officers and men." 

But we will now add various incidents from J. M. 
Howe's journal, of special interest, connected with 
the family. It says : 

"Mr. Wetmore, for nearly half a century superin- 
tendent of the New York Hospital, in Broadway, 
father of the venerable A. R. Wetmore, Esq., of the 
American Tract Society, related to me, while I was 
chaplain of the hospital, the following: ' I was,' said 
Mr. Wetmore, 'a very little boy at the commencement 
of the Revolution, when your father, Lieut. B. Howe, 
came to Danbury, Conn., in command of a company 
of soldiers, and made his home at my fathers house; 
he was of a very genial and entertaining turn with 
children and amused the little folks very much. One 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



37 



day he took a cat and apparently made it talk, greatly 
to the delight of the children.' 

"One day walking in the city of New York, about 
the year 1826, with my father's old friend, Squire 
Marvin, he introduced me to a Mr. Mills, a tall gentle- 
man of over 70 years of age, saying, * I take pleasure 
in introducing to you a son of Maj. Howe.' Mr. 
Mills grasped me warmly by the hand and said: 
1 My son, I knew your father well ; I was a soldier in 
his company, and we were stationed on Long Island. 
We were attacked by the British. The captain of the 
company was a coward and ran away. Your father, 
Lieut. Howe, took command of the company, and we 
fought all day and at night ran twenty-five miles. 

" ' It was in the depth of winter, at a certain fort 
where we were stationed ; the weather was intensely 
cold. A detachment of the British was moving 
around us and threatening us with an attack. We 
tore up our blankets and made cartridges ; " and 
then the rascals never came." We suffered intensely 
for the want of clothing, but there was no help. 

" ' On one occasion he was sent as a messenger to 
Philadelphia with a dispatch. His equipment con- 
sisted of a pair of buckskin breeches, a round jacket, 
a pair of boots, and a cap, and in this way he went 
through on horseback as fast as possible. 

" ' He was present at the execution of Maj. Andre. 
He remarked that Andre was dressed as neatly as 
if he was going to a ball ; his boots were nicely 



38 



Incidents of Howe A nee s try. 



polished, etc. He described the scene, saying that 
his own feelings were greatly affected as they 
marched along to the execution to the tune of " Roslyn 
Castle," a dead march. He said scarcely a dry eye 
could be seen. Andre's bearing was manly to the 
last' 

" My father was at the battle of Long Island, and 
was subsequently taken prisoner by the British. He 
was exchanged for a British officer in Westchester 
County, as the following pass shows: 

" Permit the bearer, Lieut. Bezaleel Howe, to pass to the 
American lines unmolested. 

" James De Lancey, 
"Lieut-Corn of the Westchester Refugees. 
"Westchester, Ap'l i, 1783. 

" My father was said to have been one of the best 
shots in the army, and commanded a company of 
picked men under Col. Hamilton. It was said that he 
could pace off twenty paces, turn around, and hit a 
dollar nineteen times out of twenty, and that with 
the old flint lock of the period. At one time he felt 
grossly insulted by both the colonel and major of a 
certain regiment, and, according to the custom of the 
times, challenged them both to fight him in succes- 
sion, but as he was a marksman of unusual ability 
friends interposed, the amende honorable was made, 
and the fighting obviated. At one time, while serving 
under Col. Hamilton, the regiment was surprised by 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



39 



an attack from the British. He ran to a barn, led 
out the colonel's war horse, mounted him bare-back 
with only a halter, and under heavy fire rode off and 
escaped. 

"About the year, 1833," J. M. Howe continues, 
" I was introduced to the widow of Col. Hamilton, by 
my nephew, Dr. Edward Guion, and enjoyed a pleas- 
ant conversation with her. She remembered my 
father, spoke of him very kindly as one of her hus- 
band's picked men, etc., and also spoke of Col. Burr 
and his attempts to court her sister. She said he 
would come to their house in Albany at all hours of 
the night. Col. Hamilton valued his friendship and 
showed him every attention, although his visits were 
always offensive to her and her sister. He also 
speaks of Col. Burr, whom he met many times during 
the latter part of his life at the house of his aunt, his 
mother's sister, Mrs. Dr. Roosa, in New York. 

" While my father was a member of Gen. Washing- 
ton's guard, he bade him walk with him one day, 
which he did until they came to an old dilapidated 
building, standing some distance back in the field, to 
which they directed their steps. On entering, they 
ascended the ladder to the upper floor, where the gen- 
eral placed a small bag of money under the eaves of the 
roof and covered it up with rubbish, and told my 
father to come there the next day and get it and pay 
certain men. On another day, in helping to pack 
some of the things preparatory to the removal of the 



4o 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



general's family, my father accidentally cut his finger. 
The general bade him go to the house, and Mrs. 
Washington bound up the wound in balsam apple, 
the popular remedy of the day." 

The following is a copy of the letter of instructions 
to Capt. Howe, written by Gen. Washington's own 
hand: 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CAPT. HOWE. 

Sir : You will take charge of the wagons which contain 
my baggage, and with the escort proceed with them to 
Virginia, and deliver the baggage at my house ten miles 
below Alexandria. As you know, they contain all my 
papers, which are of immense value to me. I am sure it is 
unnecessary to request your particular attention to them, but 
as you will have several ferries to pass and some of them wide, 
particularly the Susquehanna and Potomac, I must caution 
you against crossing them if the wind should be high, or if 
there is in your own judgment, or in the opinion of others, the 
least danger. The wagons should never be without a sen- 
tinel over them, and always locked and the keys in your 
possession. You will make such arrangements for the march, 
with Col. Morgan at this place and Mr. Hodgsden at Phila- 
delphia, as may be necessary under all circumstances ; espe- 
cially with respect to the expense, failure of horses, and 
breaking of wagons. 

Your road will be through Philadelphia and Wilmington, 
thence to the head of Elk to the lower ferry on the Susque- 
hanna, and thence, by Baltimore, Bladensburgh, Georgetown, 
and Alexandria to Mount Vernon. You will enquire of Mr. 
Hodgsden and Col. Biddle if Mrs. Washington left anything 



! 




j I 

r 



J^s /%Ls' &&**J£%* t£~~~*?q j£a~t*c<!si, ^_^z_<^- 




i 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 41 



in their care, to be forwarded by the wagons to Virginia ; if 
she did, and you can find room for it, let it be carried ; if 
there is not, desire them to send it by some other good 
opportunity. The wagons and teams, after the baggage is 
delivered, are to be surrendered, to the order of Col. Pickering, 
which has, I believe, been handed to Mr. Roberts, who is to 
deliver them to Col. Fitzgerald to be sold. The bundle 
which contains my accounts you will be careful of and deliver 
them at the financier's office with the letter addressed to him, 
that is to Mr. Morris ; the other small bundle you will deliver 

to Mr. C in Chestnut Street. Dr. W. Horsey's trunk of 

parcels you will (as I suppose he has already directed) leave 
at his house in Baltimore. You will have the tents which 
are occupied by the guard delivered to Col. Morgan, whose 
receipt for them will be a voucher for you to Quarter Mas- 
ter General. The remainder of the guard, under the care of 
a good Sergeant, with my strict orders to prevent any kind 
of abuse to the inhabitants on the march, is to be conducted 
to their corps at West Point. 

Given at Rocky Hill this 9th day of Nov., 1783. 

G. Washington. 

Copy of account of expenses on the journey : * 

BILLS FOR WHICH I HAVE RECEIPTS. 

£ s. d. 

At Derby 017 O 

The Whight Hoss 210 o 

Carried forward £3 7° 

* This is as nearly as I can make out the figures, and I have not tried 
to prove the footings. — Geo. R. Howe. 

6 



42 Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 

£ s. d. 

Brought forward 3 70 

Chester 0180 

Wilmington 014 3 

Do. 300 

New Point 092 

Cristian Bridge 080 

Head of Elk 5100 

Susquehanna 10 o o 

Swan Creek 2100 

Harford 016 

At Leggets . . . . ^ 560 

Baltimore 200 

Do. 1150 

Elk Ridge Landing 4 5 8 

8 miles from the Landing . . , 114 

Snowden's Ferries 250 

Prince George's County 018 9 

Bladensburgh 3 10 o 

Georgetown 163 

Alexandria 4 16 ij^ 

Do. o 10 10 

Mount Vernon 12 7 6 

Alexandria 739 

Marlbro 017 2 

Anapolis 241 

Head of Seavems 0711 

Baltimore on 3 

Leggetts 121 



Carried forward .... £So 19 3 £80 19 3 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



43 



£ s. d. £ s. d. 

Brought forward 80 19 3 80 19 3 

Baker town 0100 

Do. 074 

Susquehanna 115 O 

Charlstown 126 

Head of Elk 0140 

Cristian Brady 100 



Wilmington 5 910 

o 17 9 



Sergt's Bills 19 3 3 

14 1 4 



£103 4 7 



Amt. of receipts £86 6 7 

5 15 10 



£92 2 5 

An account of moneys expended for his Excel- 
lency's, the Commander-in-Chief's, family by Capt. 
Bez'l Howe for the month of Oct., 1783: 



44 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



£ s. d. 

Oct. I To 3 nutmegs, 3/5 ; To 36 D Soup y z , 42/ 2 5 5 

" 2 To bushels corn, 9/ ; To 2 bush, oysters, 10/ o 19 o 

To 50 D mutton, 25/ ; (3d) To 83 D Butter, 124/6 7 9 6 

To 1 Turkey, 4/ ; To 6^ Doz. eggs, 6/6 o 10 6 

To 6 Fowles, 4/6 ; To 5 Bush, oysters, 25/ 1 9 6 

" 5 To 3 Doz. Lemmons, 25/ ; To 4 Fowls, 4/ 150 

To 36 D Mutton, 18/ ; To y z Carrits, 2/6 ( 14 19 5) I o 6 

" 7 To 9 Doz. eggs, 9/ ; To 24 D Gammon, 24/ .... 1 13 o 

To 22 D Soup, 22/ ; To I Turkey, 3/9 1 5 9 

To 1 Goose, 3/9 ; To 48 D Mutton, 24/ 1 7 9 

" 9 To Beets, 4/6; To 7 Doz. eggs, 7/; To cash pd. 

ba gg-> 7/ 6 l 9 

" 10 To 5^ nutmegs, 30/ ; To 4 Fowles, 4/ I 14 o 

To cash pd Peggy, 22/ ; Do pd Davy, 15/ I 17 o 

To do pd Wawsley, 30/ ; To 4 Fowles, 4/ 114 o 



13 To 4 doz. eggs, 4/; to 45 D mutton, 22/6 1 6 6 

15 To 1 kegg beer, 7/6 ; To 2 Turkeys, 7/6 015 o 

To 6 D Hunney, 7/6 ; To 2 Fowles, 2/ o 9 6 

To 12 D Butter, 18/ ; To 1 bushel beets, 5/6 I 3 6 

To 1 bushel Potatoes, 3/6; To 5 bush, oyst., 22/6 160 

To 52 D Bread, 18/; To 55 D mutton, 27/6 2 5 6 

To Joseph Skelton's acc. rend, for (16 1 8) 815 8 

17 To 22 D Granboun, 22/6 ; To 65 D Bread, 22/6 .250 

18 To 2 Turkeys, 7/6; To 2 hearts and tongues, 2/6 o 10 o 
To 6 Fowles, 4/6; To 16 D Butter, 29/2 1 13 10 



10 10 6 



20 To 6 D. mutton, 28/ ; To 15 doz. eggs, 15/ 2 3 o 

To 12 D Butter, 22/ ; To 55 D mutton, 27/6 2 9 6 

24 To 44 D Butter, 77/; To 3 doz. Fowles, 27/ 5 4 o 

23 To 1 turkey, 3/9 ; To 6 quire Rapping paper, 3/ . . o 6 9 

24 To 23 D. Gammon, 23/; To I goose, 3/9 I 6 9 

To bush, potatoes, 3/9; To 1 pigg, 5/6 o 9 3 



£57 19 8 



8 10 



During some part of the last six months of the war 
he lived as a member of the Commander-in-Chief's 
family, and the pleasant relations then established 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



45 



continued to the end of General Washington's life, as 
the following invitation, found among Major Howe's 
papers, shows : 

The Commander-in-Chief requests the pleasure of Major 
Howe's company at dinner to-day at 4 o'clock. 

1st Nov. '96. 

Among his papers we also find a letter from Gov- 
ernor George Clinton, dated 9th May, 1788, which 
says that — 

Bezaleel Howe was personally well known to me, and 
that he acquitted himself [alluding to our war with Great 
Britain] with great propriety and is of justly merited reputa- 
tion ; and as a citizen he sustained an unblemished reputation. 

(Signed) GEO. CLINTON. 

A letter from James Duane, Esq., Mayor of the 
City of New York, dated 29th May, 1788, which 
says that — 

Bezaleel Howe sustains a fair and unblemished character, 
and is worthy of confidence as a good citizen; [and concludes] 
that he was esteemed during the late war as a brave and 
active officer. 

(Signed) JAMES DUANE. 

A permit as follows : 

Permit Mr. Howe to take possession of one of your rooms 
for the sick of General Washington's Guard. 
ROCKYHILL, Sep. 18, 1783. 

(Signed) ICHABOD LEIGH, Justice. 

To Mr. John Vantilburgh. 



4 6 



Incidents of Howe A ncestry. 



A letter from Ben Walker, formerly lieutenant- 
colonel in the army, and aide-de-camp to the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, says, after reciting his military 
record : * 

He was much esteemed as a brave and worthy officer, and 
his conduct whilst with the Commander-in-Chief was much 
approved. Since the war Capt. Howe has resided in New 
York, where I also had the opportunity of knowing that he 
was very much esteemed as a man of integrity and honor, 
and in every respect a good citizen. 

(Signed) Ben Walker. 

Philadelphia, June 10, 1788. 

The narrative of John M. Howe continues as follows : 
"Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, Cap- 
tain Howe was for a time in command at West Point. 
He is said to have been not only an exceptionally 
fine marksman, but a fine looking officer of soldierly 
bearing. From the time he left Hillsborough, N. H., 
about three weeks before the battle of Bunker Hill, 
until the close of the war, he never saw his mother 
or sister. When he did return there to visit them, 
he reports that his mother and sister caught him 
around the neck and fell to weeping for joy at his 
return, and he cried too. They kept it up so long 

* The original documents, of which the family, been deposited with the 

fac-similes have been made, and New Jersey Historical Society at 

from which extracts have been Newark, N. J., for safe keeping, 

given, together with others not used and may be seen by applying to 

in this work, have, at the request of the custodians. 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



47 



that he said to them that if they did not stop he 
would go away and never come back again. 

"While the army was in Quebec the baker died, 
and some one told the commander that my father was 
a baker. He was sent for, and in answer to the 
question, replied that he was not, but that he could 
bake bread if it was necessary ; so he was appointed 
baker. At one time, just as he got his bread into 
the oven, they were surprised by the British and had 
to run, leaving the bread, etc., for the enemy. 

" My father was one of the original members of 
the Cincinnati Society, and at their annual dinner 
on the 4th of July was invariably called on for a 
song and story. At his death, 3d Sep., 1825, his 
membership passed to his eldest son, George C. Howe, 
who died in 1841, leaving an infant son, George Beza- 
leel Howe, the present representative in the Society. 
My father had a fine musical voice, and as a young 
man was chorister in the church at Hillsborough, 
N. H., before he entered the army. 

" After my father resigned his commission in the 
army, he went to New Orleans, La., then in posses- 
sion of Spain, to establish business. He carried 
letters from the Mayor of New York (referred to 
previously) commendatory of him, and from the 
Spanish Minister, soliciting for him most favorable 
attention as a citizen and person of merit in New 
York, both of which letters are among his papers. 
He remained there, however, only a short time, and 



4 8 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



subsequently returned and settled in New York City, 
and received an appointment as Custom House in- 
spector at a salary of $1000 a year, as did several 
other revolutionary officers. On this amount they 
managed to live comfortably, except when changes 
of administration caused removals to be made on 
political grounds. Three different times was my 
father put out of office, much to his and the family's 
inconvenience. One of these periods was during 
the embargo caused by the War of 181 2. But, finally, 
action was taken by Congress making provision for 
the retention of revolutionary officers permanently, 
and my father thereafter held his office, and was paid 
his salary up to the day of his death, although for 
several months he was incapacitated for service. 

" My father was twice married. His first wife was 
Miss Hannah Merritt, of Mamaroneck. Of their 
married life we have no record, except that one 
daughter was born to them. Both husband and 
wife were stricken down with yellow fever during 
the epidemic in New York in 1798. She died on 
Sept. 18 of that year. (See genealogical table, 
Chapter I.) 

"On Nov. 23, 1805, Miss Maria Howe married 
John Guion, the youngest son of John Guion, of Rye, 
N. Y., and became the mother of a large family. 
(See table.) Her husband died of consumption 
about 1832; and several of his children died of the 
same disease. He left no fortune but an honorable 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



49 



name. Several of his sons were very successful ; 
two of them, William and Stephen, in establishing 
the line of transatlantic steamers by which their name 
has become so widely and favorably known. 

"He married, for his second wife, Miss Catherine 
Moffat, the youngest daughter of Rev. John Moffat 
and Maria (always called Margaret) Little, his wife, 
Feb. 15, 1800. The Rev. John Little emigrated from 
Ireland with his wife (who was Miss Frances Fitzger- 
ald) and family in either 1714, 1729, or 1 73 1 (the 
records give all three dates), and settled in Little 
Britain, Orange Co., N. Y. They came with the an- 
cestors of Governor Dewitt Clinton, and the families 
settled near each other, about ten miles west of New- 
burgh, N. Y. The old stone house built by Rev. John 
Little, with the date 1 745 on it, was standing a few 
years ago, and probably still stands. Their children 
were : Frances, born 1 709, married John Nicoll ; 
Elizabeth, born April 8, 1 71 1, married McGara; Har- 
riett, born May 19, 1 71 3, married Galatia; Elinor, 
born Jan. 22, 1 718 ; Ann, born Oct. 8, 1721 ; Maria 
(called Margaret), born May 30, 1724, married Rev. 
John Moffat; Simon, born Sep. 7, 1726. 

" Traditions say Rev. John Little was a finely edu- 
cated and wealthy man. The whole family lie buried in 
what was the orchard near the old homestead, but the 
trees have mostly fallen into decay, and no stones 
mark the graves. Little irregular mounds are all 
that is left to even indicate the spot. 

7 



50 Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 

" The Rev. John Moffat was an Irishman who came 
to this country in his youth, studied at The College 
of New Jersey, which was founded at Elizabeth, re- 
moved to Newark, and permanently located at Prince- 
ton. He graduated about 1 750. The Moffats, a Scotch - 
Irish family, originally located near Woodbridge, 
N. J. Rev. John Moffat settled, after being ordained 
as a Presbyterian minister, in Little Britain, Orange 
Co., N. Y. One of his grandsons says of him : 'He 
was an austere Presbyterian, and taught that hell was 
paved with infants' skulls.' The children of Rev. John 
Moffat and Maria Little, his wife, were : John Little, 
born 1753, married Mary Yelverton, 1779; William, 
born 1755, married Eunice Young, 1820; Margaret, 
born 1757, married Jacob Wright; Polly, born 1759, 
married Anthony Carpenter, 1777; Samuel, born 1 761, 
married Ann Shaw, 181 2 ; Fanny, born 1764, married 
Joshua Pierson, 1788; Betsy, born 1766, married 
Cornelius Roosa, 1790; Catherine, born 1774, mar- 
ried Bez'l Howe." 

Of his mother, John M. Howe writes most honor- 
ingly and affectionately. He says : " It was customary 
in those days to have liquor in the house to offer any 
one who called, so that on our sideboard in the par- 
lor there always stood, on one side the brandy bottle, 
and on the other side the gin. When the old army 
officers visited the house, the bottles were not neg- 
lected, especially when they fought over their battles 
for the fiftieth time ; but my mother was not lacking 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



5i 



in mother wit, and as opportunity offered, on such oc- 
casions, diluted the liquor at least one-half with the 
best pump water the city afforded, and by these means 
they were able to drink much longer and still keep 
sober. Temperance societies were unknown, but my 
mother watched over her children so tenderly that no 
one of her five children who lived to mature life be- 
came even a moderate drinker." 

The children born to Bezaleel Howe and Catherine 
Moffat, his wife, were : Eliza, born in 1 800, died in 
infancy; George C, born in 1802, died in 1841; 
Margarita, born in 1804, living in 1889; John 
Moffat, born in 1806, died Feb. 5, 1885; Oscar, 
born in 1808, died in infancy; Julia Ann, born in 
1 8 10, died in infancy; Catherine, born in 181 2, died 
March 4, 1883; Bezaleel, born 181 5, died Jan. 18, 
1858. 

Of the death of Julia Ann, John M. Howe says : 
" Her death was a great grief to all the family. She 
was so engaging and pleasant a little one. She was 
buried in Trinity church-yard, New York. On the 
day of the funeral Columbia College was holding 
Commencement exercises in Trinity Church ; just as 
we entered the burial-ground the audience was clap- 
ping and cheering lustily at the close of a graduate's 
speech." He continues: 

"My brother George was very delicate in health, 
suffered greatly at times from inflammatory rheumatism 
from his eleventh to his fourteenth year. Subsequently, 



52 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



he regained his health, and became successful in busi- 
ness as a watchmaker and jeweler. 

" Margarita married when about sixteen years of 
age, and had a large family. She is now a remarkably 
vigorous old lady, possessing all her faculties, a re- 
tentive memory, and full of anecdote and incident of 
the olden time. Catherine, when about seventeen 
years of age, married Samuel R. Spelman — a happy 
union. They both lived to a good old age and died 
beloved by a large circle of friends. 

" Bezaleel Howe, when he married in 1838, was 
in the employ of his brother, George C. Howe, a 
jeweler. He afterwards studied dentistry with his 
brother, John M. Howe, and practiced successfully 
for years on his own account. 

" Although my father was in the regular army for 
sixteen years, he never received a pension from the 
Government, because he said he would be required to 
make oath that he had no property, or, as he termed 
it, that he 'was a pauper,' and this he would not do, 
inasmuch as he was the owner of some wild lands in 
Skaneateles, and in Oswego, in the State of New 
York, that he had bought and through all his time 
was paying taxes on. 

" My mother never received a pension because of 
her marriage, Feb. 15, 1800. Congress granted pen- 
sions to all widows of revolutionary officers married 
before 1800. She died Dec. 2, 1849, and very soon 
thereafter pensions were granted that would have 



Incidents of Howe Ancestry. 



53 



put her in possession of a considerable amount. But 
it was all well ; she was made as comfortable as she 
could have been, lacking nothing. My fathers will 
gave his little all to my mother, and at her death 
anything that might be left to her children. Subse- 
quently, each one of the children received about 
$1500 from his estate. 

"My father died Sept. 3, 1825, and his remains 
were buried in the Dutch Reformed burial-ground 
in Houston street, New York, and fifty years after- 
wards, when the bodies were all removed to make 
place for buildings, his remains, with those of my 
brother, George C. Howe, were carefully gathered 
up and re-interred in my own plot in Greenwood 
Cemetery, Brooklyn. 

" My fathers funeral was attended by a few sur- 
viving officers of the revolutionary army, the few 
original members of the Cincinnati Society, Dr. 
Mitchell, of Columbia College, among others ; but 
time had removed most of the venerable men who 
had been his intimate associates." 




III. 

LAUNCHING INTO LIFE. 

JOHN MOFFAT HOWE was descended as we 
have seen from a Puritan, patriotic stock, that 
we have been able to trace back almost to the land- 
ing of the Mayflower. It would be but natural that 
he should have inherited something of the sturdiness 
and decision of character which were such prominent 
characteristics of his forefathers. But also, " There 
is a Divinity that shapes our ends " — a Heavenly 
Father that will lead us if we but let Him, and the 
unfolding of our tale will discover to us God as the 
guide and guardian of the life we are tracing, as 
well as manifest to us the genuine ring of the metal 
that composed its native character. 



54 



Launching Into Life. 



55 



At the time of his birth the parents of John M. re- 
sided at No. 12 Rose Street in the city of New York, 
and he was baptized in the same house by Rev. Dr. 
Beach, of St. George's Episcopal Church, then 
located at the corner of Beekman and Cliff streets. 
New York, at that time, contained a population of 
not more than 70,000 souls, in the very center of 
which this family was located. Major Howe had 
settled in this city at the close of his army life, which 
continued nine years after the close of the revolu- 
tionary war. He was the first of his name who 
settled in the city. 

The parents of John M. were not professing 
Christians, but were attendants upon the ministry of 
Rev. John B. Romaine, at the Presbyterian Church 
on the corner of Cedar and William streets. John 
Moffat was born January 23, 1806. He was the 
second son of eight children. He says himself that 
his memory went back even quite to the days of his 
infancy, he being able to recall some incidents that 
occurred in the second and third years of his life. 
He says : " I can well recollect that I was a very 
wicked child, addicted to doing behind my mothers 
back that which I would not have done in her pres- 
ence, and then, when questioned, denying it, thus 
corroborating the testimony of the Psalmist con- 
cerning children, 1 They go astray as soon as they 
are born, speaking lies.'" His entire youth was to 
him a verification of the natural alienation of the 



56 



Launching Into Life. 



human heart from God and good things and its 
proneness to evil. He clearly saw that his own heart 
was the soil out of which proceeded continually evil 
thoughts that were the parents of evil deeds. Nat- 
ural depravity was not a difficult doctrine for him to 
accept. He was not only wicked and stubborn, but 
he could not recollect having any misgivings or sor- 
row for his misconduct. Chastisement, even from 
his mother, whom he loved dearly, was by no means 
corrective or wholesome. "As I grew older," he 
says, " I added sin to sin until I had accumulated a 
load so great that I cannot estimate it." 

His parents required him to attend the catecheti- 
cal exercises of Dr. Romaine, and thus were stored 
up in his mind and heart many of the wholesome 
truths of the Westminster Catechism. But he could 
not recall any serious impression made by these 
lessons. The first thoughts in the nature of "awak- 
enings " that he could remember were excited by 
seeing funeral processions one after another passing 
through the streets, and he asked himself, " Must I 
die ? " By this time he was five or six years of age, 
and thoughts of his own dying constantly haunted 
him. Despite all his efforts he could not shake them 
off. He resolved he would not die, but before he 
arrived at the age of ten he became solemnly con- 
vinced there was no escape, but that he must die. 
But this conviction effected no change in his heart 
and life. 



Launching Into Life. 



57 



This conviction was further increased by his 
father's occasionally taking him to attend a funeral, 
and he sometimes followed the train to the grave 
and saw with horror the body put into the ground. 
The dread of death, and awful apprehensions of God, 
together with the inward workings of a corrupt heart, 
made his inner childhood life exceeding gloomy, 
though outwardly light and joyous. These thoughts 
he never revealed to any one. 

During this period there was a domestic in his 
elder sister's family, a mulatto girl far advanced in 
consumption. She was a Methodist. Her disease 
had not yet destroyed her rich melodious voice, and 
a little before her death he heard her singing : 

Sweet Heaven ! Sweet Heaven ! 

Dear Lord, when shall I get to Heaven ? 

The impression made on his mind was wonderful 
and lasting. In his old age he writes that although 
it was the only time he could recollect having heard 
her sing, "even to this day, at times, I think I hear 
her voice singing as I then heard it : 

Sweet Heaven ! Sweet Heaven ! " 

The distressing sense of his guilt was actually 
deepened by this song that he heard ; but, perhaps, a 
faint despairing hope also sprang up in his soul like 
a soft, flickering light amid awful gloom, a hope that 
8 



58 



Launching Into Life. 



possibly in some inscrutable way he might get rid of 
his sins and at length gain Heaven. 

On the way from Dr. Romaine's church to their 
home, he and a cousin, led by curiosity to do so, 
were wont to pass the John Street Methodist Church, 
and occasionally at night they went into the meet- 
ings in progress there. Although they usually re- 
mained but a few minutes, the scenes greatly 
interested John M. The hearty singing and the 
earnest praying and responses had a special charm 
for him. 

This is a fair picture of the life of this lad up to his 
fourteenth year. Sinning and repenting, repenting 
and sinning, he was as miserable as a child could be, 
seeking in various ways to bury his sense of guilt and 
wretchedness in sports and occupations. Contrary 
to the wish of his parents, he was in the habit of run- 
ning away on the Sabbath and strolling with other 
boys in the rural outskirts of the city, which were not 
very remote. How near these were, is scarcely pos- 
sible for children of the present day to realize. There 
was scarcely any city above Canal street, and Dr. 
Howe was accustomed to tell of the pond, known 
as the Collect, at the corner of Canal and Centre 
streets, with which he was familiar in his boyhood, 
and of the stream that ran on the surface of Canal 
street, through its center, emptying into the Collect. 
He also was accustomed to speak of the Bowery as 
very largely a country road, with considerable rural 



Launching Into Life. 



59 



attractions for boys, and his own father used to tell 
him that when the City Hall was built, the front 
towards the city was built of white marble, while 
for the side towards the country brown stone was 
thought to be good enough. 

Returning one evening from one of these rambles, 
they were attracted by a great noise in the Sabbath- 
school room of the Forsyth Street Methodist Church, 
and they went in. There were several children 
kneeling at a bench with their teachers on the other 
side of it praying for their souls. The boys remained 
but five minutes or so; "but while there," John M. 
says, " impressions were made upon my mind that 
time could not eradicate, but which haunted me con- 
tinually day and night." From this time he became an 
attendant of Sabbath-school and began to pray to 
God to change his heart and help him to lead a bet- 
ter life. A little more than a month of faithful seek- 
ing brought him a wonderful change. He obtained a 
clear and satisfactory evidence of his acceptance with 
God and the witness of the Holy Spirit that he was a 
child of God. - This was so clear that near the close of 
life he said, " I have never doubted it." At the same 
time there sprang up in his mind the fresh, inspiring 
thought that God might some day open his way to 
become a preacher of that Gospel which had proved 
so blessed to his own soul, and that it might be even 
among the Methodist people. This flashed into his 
mind one day as he was walking in the City Hall 



6o 



Launching Into Life. 



Park, engaged in earnest prayer, and it never fully 
left him. His joy was literally unspeakable. " Happy 
as I could be in the body," he says, " not only was the 
burden of sin gone and peace given me, but also joy 
in the Holy Ghost — a joy which is better felt than 
described ; and the Bible, though before a sealed book, 
was now opened to me, and even nature itself as- 
sumed a different aspect and put on new beauties. 

" My willing soul would stay 
In such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing itself away 
To everlasting bliss." 

This new experience was, however, of short dura- 
tion. He did not communicate his thoughts or en- 
joyments to any one. He had always had the most 
sovereign contempt for Methodists and did not want 
to be identified with them, at least not publicly. He 
was even unwilling any one should know what had 
occurred to him among them. He therefore did not 
unite with the " Society," or attend class meeting. In 
less than a single month he lost his enjoyments, 
yielded to temptation, fell into sin, and grieved the 
Spirit of God so that it departed from him. His 
sense of forgiveness and his peace were gone, and 
his remaining years up to manhood were spent in the 
dreary desert of unbelief and sin. 

Sometimes his departures from God were so fla- 
grant that they seemed to call for the swift and sure 



Launching Into Life, 



61 



vengeance of Heaven. He abhorred his life of in- 
gratitude and wickedness, but was seemingly with- 
out power to forsake it. The devil was to him so 
complete a charmer that the poor youth could not 
break the spell and escape from his toils. Gay and 
worldly young people were his companions. He 
attended balls and parties, the theater and the circus. 
He danced in his gilded chains, but they were yet 
chains, heavy and grievous to bear. He went about 
condemned by his conscience and by his God, appar- 
ently gay and happy, but really miserable because 
guilty. At times he went in secret and cried to God 
with many tears, often promising that he would 
abandon his sinning and resolutely begin God's 
service. But he was as miserable as he had for 
a blessed season been happy. Sometimes he would 
walk the streets and weep, with no one to whom he 
could open his heart. Sometimes he would wish 
he had not been made a moral and accountable 
being. 

At the early age of four years he was sent to 
school, and continued to attend for some eight or nine 
years. He says : " I was never fond of my books 
or the school, and had much rather stay away than 
go. I scarcely ever knew my lessons perfectly, or if 
I did, I gave them no thought afterwards. So I grew 
up without getting a return to any great degree for 
the cost of my tuition, and I was a sore trial to my 
dear parents, who often had to compel my attendance 



62 



Launching Into Life. 



at school." We can readily understand that his edu- 
cation in this way became sadly deficient, and that 
it must have been altogether inadequate for the de- 
mands of business life. His dislike of books, his 
heedless, wayward character, and the fact that his 
parents were without means and were rapidly grow- 
ing old, led to several attempts to obtain for him em- 
ployment that might prove congenial to him. He 
first entered "old John Greenwood's " crockery store, 
where his chief duty seems to have been to aid "Old 
Jerry," a colored man, in packing goods for deliv- 
ery. After some time, we know not how long, but it 
was in his seventeenth year, he entered a merchant 
tailor's establishment in Maiden Lane, the business 
of which was chiefly with New Orleans, and though 
he received here no pecuniary remuneration, he be- 
came acquainted with the business, and important 
results therefore followed. Life began to put on a 
more serious aspect to him. He became conscious 
of the need of more education in order to business 
success, and faithfully availed himself of the night 
schools to make up his deficiencies. His father was 
now about seventy years of age — an age that would 
seem to exclude his much longer employment in the 
Custom House, even if his life were continued. 
These apprehensions of the loss of his office were 
actually verified in a short time, and five years later, 
while John M. was still a youth of nineteen, he de- 
ceased. 



Launching Into Life. 



63 



Speaking of this time, John M. says : " I was often 
led to think about the means of supporting my dear 
mother and the younger members of the family when 
my father should be removed by death, and, as a con- 
sequence, his income be discontinued." The thought 
of mastering some business by which, in company 
with his elder brother, who was a cripple and learned 
watch-making, he should be able to support the fam- 
ily in such an emergency, fired his soul with ambition. 
He remained in this clothing store about two years. 
From subsequent events, we may conclude that he 
became well acquainted with the business, and was 
more sober and sensible in his life, but unchanged as 
to his religious character. The wife of his employer, 
in whose family he lived, had been a Methodist, but 
upon her marriage, and in compliance with her hus- 
band's wish, had forsaken the ''Societies" to attend 
the more honorable Episcopal service. She seemed 
to him a pious woman, but she never once, in all the 
time of this vouth's abode with them, introduced to 
him the subject of religion, and she therefore was 
wholly unacquainted with the unrest of his heart. 

When the emergency came, John M. writes, 
"through the blessing of a kind Providence upon the 
labors of my brother and myself, we were prepared 
to extend that help which we felt it our greatest 
pleasure and our duty to afford." 

His highly esteemed father, after a confinement 
to his room of about three months, departed this 



64 



Launching Into Life. 



life Sept. 3, 1825. He insisted upon being raised 
from the bed, and this being done, he breathed out 
his life leaning his head upon the shoulder of this 
son. John M. was deeply affected by this event. 
He trembled from head to foot when he saw that his 
father was dead. His health was so affected by the 
dying scene and by his bereavement that he left the 
city for a time to get relief from the sights and sor- 
rows of home. 

Twelve years afterwards, on the anniversary of this 
affecting event, Mr. Howe recalls minutely all the 
circumstances. He thus recounts them : " This day 
twelve years ago, about one o'clock in the day, my 
venerable father expired in my arms. He had been 
confined to the house about three months, and to his 
bed a short time. We were expecting his death soon, 
but when the hour came, it was after all unexpected. 
Just before he died he said to me, being the only one 
present, 'Where is my wife?' I immediately called 
her. When she came in, he said, ' Wife, I must get 
up and sit upon the chair,' which was near. We en- 
deavored to dissuade him from it, because he was 
too weak. But he said, ' No, I must get up.' These 
were the last words he ever spoke. I put my left 
arm under his back and raised him up, my mother 
and sister assisting. I endeavored to aid him to the 
chair, my left arm still under his back. No sooner 
had he reached the chair, than he threw his head 
forcibly back on my left shoulder, and, with his jaws 



Launching Into Life. 



65 



widely distended, breathed his last. As he strug- 
gled, I embraced him closely and held him with a 
firmer grasp. The sight deeply affected me. and I 
turned my head away that I might not see it. But 
the glance that I had will never fade from my vision, 
and while I live I expect to feel the pressure of his 
dying head upon my bosom." 

Again and again, with utmost tenderness and grief, 
he refers to this event on its recurring anniversaries. 
On Sept. 3, 1 88 1, fifty-six years afterwards, he writes : 
"This is the anniversary of my father's death. The 
day never passes without the event being forcibly 
presented to my mind. How wonderful that I should 
still live." He had inherited the promise of the Com- 
mandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy 
days may be long in the land which the Lord thy 
God giveth thee." 

His memory of his mother was equally enduring., 
but, if possible, still more tender and beautiful. One 
of the last of his notes was about her. Under date 
of the nth of Sept., 1884, he says: "How memory 
still clings to my mother, although she passed away 
thirty-five years ago. I think of her as she was in 
my boyhood ; of her influence in the family among 
the children and with my father; of her love and sym- 
pathy as exhibited in various attentions in sickness 
and in health; her unwearied attentions to my brother 
George, who, for three or four years, beginning with 
the eleventh year of his age, suffered excruciating pains 

9 



66 



Launching Into Life. 



from inflammatory rheumatism ; of her great love for 
my younger brother Bezaleel, who, as he came up 
towards manhood was a source of great anxiety and 
care, yet, how a mothers love clung to him unfalter- 
ingly and with the tenderest interest; of her influence 
in counteracting the teachings and habits of men ad- 
dicted to drinking liquors. To our mother all the 
children owe the bias early implanted in them against 
the drinking of intoxicants. She manifested the faith- 
ful loving mother down to the very last of her earthly 
life, though it was through many difficulties." 

This blessed woman survived her husband twenty- 
five years, and died in the city of New York, at the 
home of her daughter, Mrs. Samuel R. Spelman, in 
Stanton street, near Eldridge. 

Now that so much devolved upon him, John M. 
gave himself with undivided energy to the work of 
making a subsistence for the family. When he was 
about twenty-one years of age an opportunity pre- 
sented itself for him to go into partnership in the 
tailoring business and furnishing of tailors' materials 
with a pious gentleman by the name of Obadiah Peck, 
a Presbyterian. He was a calm and deliberate gen- 
tleman, and had a way when his temper was tested 
of not saying a word. In this, John M. endeavored 
to imitate him. In various ways, indeed, in respect 
to morals and manners, Mr. Peck proved a great 
blessing to this youth. They also prospered in busi- 
ness. It was a happy and successful copartnership. 



Launching Into Life. 



6 7 



This taste of financial prosperity seemed to whet the 
thirst of our youth for worldly possessions. He gave 
himself without reserve to business. All this while 
his resisting the Spirit of God and his sense of guilt 
created great depression of spirits, until the struggle 
became so severe that his health again gave way 
under it. He sank into general debility and became 
a victim of dyspepsia and other maladies. His soul 
was in a state of perpetual contention, and sometimes 
at his desk he would lay his head on his hands and 
burst into a flood of tears. 

With a view to a little rest he went up into Con- 
necticut to Sawpit, the residence of Mr. Samuel Peck, 
the father of his partner, who was a Presbyterian 
deacon and a truly godly man. Mr. Peck was 
accustomed to summon his household to the family 
altar. Here young Howe, having but once before 
in a life of twenty-two years witnessed family prayer, 
shared in household worship. Though all kneeled, 
young Howe stood proud and unyielding, with his 
face turned to the wall. That other occasion on 
which he was favored with family prayer was in 
1825 or 1826 at the old mansion in Westchester Co., 
N. Y., of General Thomas, of revolutionary fame. 
The premises were then occupied by the Presbyterian 
Society for the benefit of converted Jews, and our 
subject was visiting there a young lady friend who 
had married a converted Jew. But evil reports con- 
cerning the Superintendent who conducted the serv- 



68 



Launching Into Life. 



ice made it impossible for him to wholly relish it. 
The worship, notwithstanding, was deeply solemn 
and interesting to him. He returned from the 
present visit to Connecticut with health not at all 
improved. 

Unable to attend to business, he was advised to 
seek another season of recreation in the country. 
This time he went to the residence of Mr. Jas. Guion 
at Mamaroneck, a delightful spot with commanding 
views and salubrious air. But the luxury in which 
this agreeable and delightful family lived was far 
from conducive to the restoration of a dyspeptic. In 
fact, he grew weaker and weaker, until he would 
sometimes faint away and remain in that condition 
for hours. It was thought best he should return to 
the city. This was done, and then his physicians 
advised his spending a season in the South. He 
always lamented this advice, deeming that a strict 
regimen, exercise in the open air, and what he calls 
"the plan of kneading the bowels, " far better than 
a journey southward." But, obeying his physicians, 
he, in company with his mother, left New York for 
Savannah — a voyage then of fourteen days, which 
in this case was attended with severe seasickness and 
exhaustion. He was no sooner landed than he be- 
came prostrated with fever, which lasted many days 
and brought him to the borders of the grave. 

At this period, and through all his life, he attrib- 
uted his illness to over-devotion to business, together 



Launching Into Life. 



69 



with an utter disregard of certain physiological laws. 
But he also ever believed that his medical advisers 
altogether failed to comprehend his case, or recog- 
nize the proper remedies. He condemned the super- 
abundance of physic administered to him, the cupping, 
the salivation with mercury, and other heroic treat- 
ment to which he was subjected. Just before starting 
for Savannah, the doctor prescribed five drops of 
" Fowler's Solution," a preparation of arsenic, to be 
taken three times each day. "This so poisoned my 
system," he says, "that when I arrived in Savannah 
my head and face were severely bloated and enlarged 
by the poison, while through exposure to the hot sun 
in ascending the Savannah River I took the fever, 
and had to be carried to a boarding-house, where I 
lay sick for many weeks under the care of Dr. Scriven, 
an eminent physician, once a student of Sir Astley 
Cooper, of London. He administered heavy doses 
of quinine, and I was more reduced in flesh and 
strength than ever before. My mother despaired of 
my recovery." 

Through the loving attentions of his mother and 
the skill of his gratefully remembered physician, his 
life was preserved. He had a second attack of fever 
during the winter, and was again brought to the very 
verge of death. For this dread event he knew he 
was unprepared, and knew also that he had not 
strength now to make the requisite preparation. 
And so, though the thought of death filled him with 



7o 



Launching Into Life. 



horror, he had the presumption to defer the duty of 
preparation for eternity, but meantime covenanting 
in his heart with God that if He would raise him up 
and give him strength, he would, when spring came 
and he reached home, seek His face and favor and 
lead a new life. 

He returned to New York in April, after a stay in 
Savannah of five months, better neither in body nor 
soul. A little while after his return, on his way up 
the Hudson River to pass the summer with a cousin 
in Orange County, a gentleman who seemed to sym- 
pathize much with him told him that he himself was 
once dying just as Mr. Howe then was, and that Dr. 
Talmadge Sutherland, of New York, had cured him, 
and advised his seeking treatment from Dr. Suther- 
land. He staid but one night with his cousin, and at 
once resorted to Dr. Sutherland, and in a few months 
was quite restored. The means the doctor resorted to 
were deep inspiration and expiration, and kneading 
the bowels, etc., etc. These remedies Dr. Howe 
afterwards found very effectual in numerous stubborn 
cases of a kind like his own. 

As it had been eighteen months since he had been 
able to attend to any business, and as his partner had 
been sick for a year, it was thought best by mutual 
friends that they should retire from the business in 
which for three years they had been associated with 
such mutual pleasure and profit. This was a sore 
trial to Mr. Howe. When he became able to walk 



Launching Into Life. 



7i 



and ride he was exceedingly miserable, for he wanted 
to be doing something. He had seen all his plans 
for life disappointed, and the excellent foundations 
laid for business pass into the hands of his clerk. As 
he continued to improve, he decided it would take 
two years to settle his business, and he made a giant 
effort at cheerfulness and resignation, and took daily 
exercise. He thought he would resort to teaching 
for a time, and then enter business again. 

About this time a revival of religion commenced 
in the Central Presbyterian Church in Broome street, 
of which Rev. Dr. Wm. Patton was pastor. A mem- 
ber of this church persuaded young Howe to attend 
the meetings. Much against his inclination he agreed 
to do so, daily, during the meetings. When he con- 
sented he supposed it would be only for four days 
of a single week, but they lasted for several weeks, 
and for the sake of his pledge he continued to attend. 
He had now gone to the opposite extreme from his 
childhood, and he wanted his word to be as good as 
his bond. He sought to gain God's favor by moral 
integrity and good deeds, and often congratulated 
himself that his deportment was more commendable 
than that of many professed Christians. 

While attending the meetings he was again brought 
under the keenest conviction for sin. Then, also, the 
covenant he had made with God in the South, when 
he was standing upon the brink of the grave, came 
to his mind. He felt that if he did not become a child 



72 



Launching Into Life. 



of God now, God might say, " He is joined to his 
idols ; let him alone." But he was very suspicious of 
himself, and asked himself, "Are you now in ear- 
nest?" "Will you make a complete surrender?" 
" Will you be in good earnest ? " He responded, 
"Yes ! Yes ! Lord ! Thou knowest all things ; Thou 
knowest I will." He began again to read the Bible 
and to pray in his chamber. In order to mortify the 
pride of his heart, he decided to perform these duties 
aloud in order that he might counteract his unwil- 
lingness that any one should know of his penitence. 
He thus read and prayed aloud three times a day. 
He also constantly attended the meetings. 

His friend who had invited him to the protracted 
meeting, now invited him to attend the inquiry meet- 
ing. He went with a sense of the deepest humiliation 
and a heart throbbing as if it would burst. He learned 
little but that he must give his heart to God, and was 
invited to attend again, which he did, and the cele- 
brated revivalist, Rev. Dr, Nettleton, was present. His 
burden could hardly be endured and caused great 
depression of spirit. Passing around the room, Dr. 
Nettleton at length came to him. He told Dr. Net- 
tleton that he believed pride hindered the blessing 
from coming to him, and that he must mortify him- 
self before he could hope for acceptance; he was told 
that all he had to do was to give his heart to God. 
He went from the meeting more distressed than ever. 
The next day his agony had become intolerable, and 



Launching Into Life. 



73 



he determined to call on Dr. Patton. Ringing at the 
door, the Doctor appeared, and said to him that if it 
were not something very particular he would like to 
be excused as he was engaged with some gentlemen, 
and requested him to call another time. He turned 
from the door with a heart almost breaking, and was 
tempted to feel neglected by the minister. He thought, 
"It is all in vain — or, at least, I must seek God in 
private, and if I do not find Him, I will give it up." 
A week of this kind of effort followed, and then a 
voice seemed to say to him, " Will you now give it 
up?" and he answered, " No, no; it is now or never 
with me. If I never find, I will still seek. No soul 
can be lost crying to God for mercy." After this his 
agony was somewhat relieved ; still he had no evi- 
dence of his acceptance with God, and little peace of 
mind. As he had been so proud and unwilling that 
any one should know of his course, he now swung 
to the opposite extreme and met no friend in the 
street or elsewhere to whom he did not tell his 
changed purposes. Many wished him God-speed, 
and one young infidel said, " Good luck to you ; the 
way to hell is paved with good intentions." This 
last sentence struck him deeply and drove him to 
greater earnestness. 

A month or six weeks passed in going hither and 
yonder seeking, but finding no comfort of soul. Now, 
at the invitation of a lady, he went to hear her pas- 
tor, Rev. William White, in Christie street near 

10 



74 



Launching Into Life. 



Grand. Mr. White lectured from " Christ came not 
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," and 
unfolded the text with very great interest to him. 
While the minister was speaking, light broke into 
Mr. Howe's soul, and the words were peacefully 
applied to him, " Christ died for thee." The burden 
was gone, his sins blotted out, and he was so happy 
that it was with great difficulty he could remain com- 
posed and quiet. He awoke the next morning full 
of blessedness. During the day he found himself in 
a little liquor shop, exhorting a poor fellow that he 
was persuaded had but a short time to live. This poor 
fellow was soon taken to his bed, and Mr. Howe 
visited him and talked to him of religion ; but the 
man's wife spoke so lightly of religion that her 
wretched husband gave it up and died with horrid 
oaths upon his lips. Mr. Howe said to himself, 
" How is it that I am led now to stand all this. 
Surely, old things have passed away; behold all 
things have become new." 

His mind now began to agitate the question, of 
what church he should become a member. For doc- 
trinal reasons he readily disposed of the Presbyterian 
Church. He was a native anti-Calvinist. The Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church was a noble, respectable 
body of Christians, much in harmony with his tastes, 
and the Methodists were poor and few and despised. 
To join the latter would be to sacrifice social position 
and business prospects. But at last he came to de- 



Launching Into Life. 



75 



bate the question in view of the sole point how he 
could best save his soul, how most fully serve God, 
where do the most for mankind, and decided fully 
that this could be best effected by him in the Meth- 
odist Church. At this moment Mr. Benjamin F. 
Howe, a prominent Methodist, and of his kindred, 
came to him and helped him much by his brotherly 
counsel. He volunteered to hand his name in as a 
probationer to Rev. Samuel Merwin, then in charge 
of the New York East Circuit, with his home at the 
parsonage of Allen Street Church. This was done, 
and Mr. Howe was assigned to the class of Dr. 
David M. Reese, being in that part of the circuit 
which afterwards became the Greene Street Church. 

Pending this great struggle for salvation, he re- 
ceived confirmation at the hands of Bishop Hobart, 
in a church of which Rev. Thomas Lyle, D. D., had 
long been rector, and at this time Rev. John Clark 
was his assistant. The church stood on Anthony 
street (now Worth street), just west of Broadway. 
Dr. Lyle had been a Methodist preacher, a deeply 
devoted man, who, when asked by Bishop Asbury, 
" Tommy, my boy, why do you leave the itinerancy?" 
replied: " Bishop, I have eight good reasons — five 
sons and three daughters." The fact is he was driven 
out of the conference by the utter impossibility of 
supporting in it so large a family. But he could not 
but preach the Gospel, and so received ordination in 
the Episcopal Church. To the latest day of his life, 



7 6 



Launching Into Life. 



Dr. Lyle maintained his affiliations with his old Meth- 
odist friends, and was always warmly received at the 
conferences. Rev. Mr. Clark, his assistant, Dr. Howe, 
in 1879, says "was a most interesting and attractive 
preacher." Mr. Howe had also become acquainted 
with Mr. Louis Thibou, who had removed from 
Newark, N. J., to New York City that he might give 
his son the advantages of Columbia College, and Mr. 
Thibou became an attendant of Dr. Lyle's church. 
Mr. Howe was thus led there. He says " the 
church was well filled and a heavenly influence at- 
tended all the services." 

Mr. Thibou had a charming daughter, Charlotte, 
with whom Mr. Howe became acquainted. " Both 
Miss Thibou and myself," says Mr. Howe, "had been 
groping our way along, thirsting after God and a 
knowledge of sins forgiven and the witness of the 
Spirit, which blessing we obtained at about the same 
time." Miss Thibou and Mr. Howe were evidently 
of one spirit in religious matters and helpful to each 
other in them. She often attended Dr. Reese's 
class, of which Mr. Howe also became a member, 
and she was led, against the remonstrance of her 
parents, to unite with the first Wesleyan Chapel in 
Vestry street, and subsequently married Rev. Ed- 
mund S. Janes, afterwards elected a Bishop of the 
M. E. Church. 

"Broadway Hall," where the Greene Street 
Church was organized, was the second story of a 



Launching Into Life. 



77 



wooden building about one hundred feet north of How- 
ard street on the east side of Broadway, but the con- 
gregation in a little while removed to a large brick 
church, the largest Methodist church of the city, 
erected on the west side of Greene street about two 
hundred feet north of Broome. Mr. Howe seemed 
never to tire of giving the names of the worthies 
who were in at the foundation of this church. 

Now, once more, began in earnest the struggle 
about his preaching. It was a beautiful spring 
morning, and his soul was overflowing with blessed- 
ness, and he said to himself, " What makes me so 
happy ? " and replied, " It is the Gospel." Then, this 
Gospel should be preached to all men that they may 
be blest in like manner. It became an irresistible 
conviction of his soul that he should preach it. Want 
of proper education, want of health, nothing could 
silence this call. Just at this time he was com- 
mended by some business men to a good business 
at Augusta, Georgia, and he decided to go and see 
it, and, if it suited him, accept it. More judicious 
friends advised him, on the score of health, against 
it, but he was firm. This buried out of mind for a 
time the thought of preaching. 

One Saturday, engaged in prayer in his room, 
the words "thou shalt die" came to him as a per- 
sonal address, and the impression returned to him in 
the prayer-meeting at Forsyth Street Church in the 
evening. The belief took possession of him, that it 



78 Launching Into Life. 



was a warning and that in a few days he should die. 
He came home late, attended to his devotions, and 
tried to prepare for bed. But his whole nervous sys- 
tem was unstrung and he burst into a flood of tears, 
and had to call his mother to his assistance. She 
came and he was soon in bed. But the wreck of his 
earthly prospects, his prospective death, funeral, and 
new-made grave were floating before his eyes. His 
mother inquired what was the matter, and being told, 
she was overcome with grief. At the request of Mr. 
Howe, his friend Benjamin F. Howe was sent for, 
and greatly comforted and strengthened him, and he 
fell asleep. Though very weak, on Sabbath he went 
to Broadway Hall to service, and at evening visited 
a young lady for whom he had avowed an affection. 
Here, the thought that he should soon die coming 
upon him again with great power, and he being very 
feeble, fainted, and lay till midnight. A carriage 
took him home in the morning. But this settled the 
business in the South and he withdrew from it. This 
also settled the matter of affection with the excellent 
young lady alluded to, for he concluded he must not 
think of marriage. These questions could be decided ; 
but the thought of preaching was yet in his mind 
day and night, and sometimes he was afraid it would 
cost him his reason. 

In about three weeks, — this was in the spring of 
1 83 1, — at the suggestion of Benjamin F. Howe, 
hoping to recruit, he went to the home of Rev. Beza- 



Launching Into Life. 



79 



leel Howe, father of Benjamin F., on Coeyman's Cir- 
cuit, at Aquetock, Albany Co., N. Y. This was 
a delightful rural spot, where he met a warm wel- 
come and a world of sympathy and religious help, 
from friends both wise and godly, In a few days, 
even in this retreat so remote and retired, the clamor 
in his soul about preaching returned. Three months 
were spent at this place, he being hardly able for 
most of the time to get from one room to another, 
occasionally conducting family prayer, and wonder- 
ing why it was worth while for him to live and resist 
the call to preach. He felt as if the sentence of 
death had gone out against him, but that if he would 
consent to be a Methodist preacher he might live. 
The circuit preacher occasionally took his guest to 
ride with him to his appointments, and eternity can 
only uncover the help and relief that his words at 
such times proved to this struggling youth. At last 
he yielded, promised God he would preach, and upon 
his knees consecrated himself to God and the great 
work. 

The fearful storm was past. The rest of mind and 
body that followed brought rapidly returning health. 
He began by the study of the Scriptures and the 
reading of commentaries and otherwise to prepare 
for the work to which he had devoted himself. He 
had exceedingly humble views of his capability for 
the work. Sometimes, even now, he cried, " Lord, 
I will, but I can't," and he heard as often the re- 



8o 



Launching Into Life. 



sponse, " My grace is sufficient for thee." During 
all this long and agonizing struggle he never re- 
vealed his mind to any one, and this practice he still 
maintained. Happy would it have been for him had 
he done so, but he still kept it a matter between him 
and God. 

A Bible class composed of young people met at 
Rev. Bezaleel Howe's residence, and he asked the 
Lord, if He really wished him to preach, to signify it 
by making the next meeting of the class a time of 
conversion. The meeting closed with no manifesta- 
tion of the kind, but afterwards several began to pray 
and seek, and three young ladies knelt as penitents 
and were converted. He never afterwards dared to 
doubt his call to preach, and often remarked that 
this was the only time in his life that he dared pre- 
sume to ask of the Lord a sign, and he was very 
grateful for the Divine condescension in giving it. 

It was at this juncture, probably, that he made a 
short visit to the vicinity of Oswego. His father had 
left considerable land in that section, and it was the 
wish of his mother that he should occupy it, chiefly in 
the hope that agricultural pursuits might strengthen 
his frail body and prolong his life. When he went 
out he found the quality of the land poor and un- 
satisfactory, but he obtained another farm and went 
to work. A log school-house in the neighborhood 
became his sanctuary, and here he aided the circuit 
preacher, Rev. E. Barnes, as well as he could to sus- 



Launching Into Life. 



81 



tain the meetings, and was licensed by him to exhort. 
Of this period he has written less, at least less has 
been preserved, than of almost any other time in his 
life. It was probably wholly unsatisfactory to him, 
and seems to have developed no benefits for him in 
body, mind, soul, or estate. 

In those times it was as much the duty of every 
citizen to do military duty at stated seasons each 
year as it was his duty to vote ; with this difference, 
that he was compelled to do the former, but not the 
latter. Every man was furnished by the Govern- 
ment with a musket and shoulder-straps, and in his 
ordinary wearing apparel was for a few days in each 
year put under military discipline. It was, in fact, 
nothing more or less than the " general training " so 
famous in New England tales of former days. Its 
object was to make a citizen soldiery, somewhat ac- 
quainted with military tactics, who might be sum- 
moned, upon any emergency, for the public defense, 
and not be entirely " raw." There were, of course, 
companies, regiments, and brigades, all to be offi- 
cered. Mr. Howe, having reached manhood, was, 
like every other citizen, drafted for this duty. But it 
shows the esteem in which he was held that he was 
not permitted to remain in the ranks as a common 
soldier. On the 17th of May, 1828, he was ap- 
pointed by Governor E. T. Throop lieutenant of the 
235th Regiment of State Infantry, and a week after- 
wards he took the oath requisite for the office before 
11 



82 



Launching Into Life. 



Commissioner Samuel T. Haymond. On the 21st 
day of September, 1830, he was appointed by the 
same Governor quartermaster of the same regi- 
ment, and took the requisite oath for that office on 
the 26th of October, 1830, before Colonel John D. 
Stevenson. 

Hans Christian Andersen begins his taking vol- 
ume entitled " The Story of My Life " by saying : 
" If, when I was a boy, and went forth into the world 
poor and friendless, a good fairy had met me and 
said, ' Choose now thy own course through life, and 
the object for which thou wilt strive, and then ac- 
cording to the development of thy mind, and as rea- 
son requires, I will guide and defend thee to its 
attainment,' my fate could not even then have been 
directed more happily, more prudently or better. 
The history of my life will say to the world what it 
says to me, ' There is a loving God who directs all 
things for the best.' " 

When the same great author proposed to go to 
Copenhagen in search of fame, and his mother re- 
monstrated, he told her, " People have a great deal 
of adversity to go through, and then they will be 
famous." His " story " is one of repeated rebuffs and 
failures, but at last success crowned his persever- 
ance. 

Our subject's life tale in this resembles that of the 
great Dane. Indeed, it is the history of every life 
similarly circumstanced. Success is a coy dame, and 



Launching Into Life. 



83 



the youth who would court and win her must not be 
easily rebuffed. He must pursue with unfainting 
ardor a definite life purpose, allowing nothing to 
divert or entice him from it. 

An Oriental tale describes an enchanted hill on 
the summit of which was concealed a great treasure, 
which would be the prize of him who should ascend 
the hill without looking behind him ; but he who 
grew wearied with the climbing, or looked behind, 
would be turned to stone. The tradition tells us 
that the hillside was all covered with stones, for the 
forest on every side was full of alluring views and 
tempting scenes, and the victims of failure were 
many. So, life has a rich recompense to any youth 
who unfalteringly climbs its rugged steep. Few 
travel a more discouraging road all through child- 
hood and youth than did John Moffat Howe. But 
he resolved to live — that he would not die till he 
must. He also resolved to win, and we have seen 
how, with unflagging energy, he toiled on, surmount- 
ing one difficulty after another. It will appear in 
his subsequent history that, after all, the greatest 
thing he did for himself, even for this life, was to lay 
in with his rich Father in Heaven, who also rules 
the universe and can employ all its resources in the 
interest of those who are His favorites. If the foun- 
dations we lay are bad, no matter how good the 
workmanship and materials in the walls may be, 
the building will not stand. A crack will appear in 



8 4 



Launching Into Life. 



some upper room, but the cause of it is in the foun- 
dation. It is difficult for youth to realize the im- 
portance of life's first years — the period when life 
takes its bent, when habits are formed, when the 
character is well-nigh irrevocably fixed. A godly 
purpose, a dauntless energy, the seeking of wisdom 
from on high, fidelity to Heaven assigned duties, and 
diligence in business can hardly result in failure. 
Such a life must serve some noble purpose. It will 
be a success. 



IV. 



HIS TWO PROFESSIONS. 



WE have already seen various heroic endeavors 
of this young man, in the face of many unpro- 
pitious circumstances, to establish himself in some 
honorable business that would afford him and his a 
livelihood. Underneath all these were very diligent 
efforts by way of private study to counteract the 
deeply deplored effects of his early neglect of educa- 
tion. His orthography was exceedingly faulty, and 
he therefore, for a period of five years, carried about 
with him a pocket dictionary, that he might revise his 
own spelling. He took lessons in penmanship from 

Mr. Bragg, the most distinguished teacher of 

chirography at that time in the city. He also studied 
book-keeping with Prof. Bennett, then most em- 



85 



86 



His Two Professions, 



inent as a writer, and an authority in this line, giving 
an hour each night to his lectures, and continuing in 
the study and practice of the art till he received from 
the professor a certificate that he was " capable of 
keeping a set of books by double entry in any count- 
ing-house in the United States." 

We find piled up by him, in memoranda, on slips, 
and in note-books, all manner of items, historical, 
scientific, practical, and professional, as well as those 
which were critical, theological, and of the nature of 
religious experience. In some of these can readily be 
discerned the germs of his after pursuits in life. We 
find among others, about the year 1830, recipes care- 
fully penciled, to cure the aching of the teeth, and for 
various diseases of the gums, and directions how to 
treat caries and how to extract teeth, etc., etc. We 
find, also, many prescriptions copied and preserved, for 
all the various ailments with which he himself had been 
long afflicted, or which he had seen effectual in cases 
of the illness of others. 

His own teeth were sadly sympathetic with the 
feebleness of his general system, and probably also 
suffering from the medicines so freely administered 
to him. Dentistry was not as at present a profession. 
It is just a hundred years since the treatise of John 
Hunter laid the foundation of the English school of 
dentistry, and Bichat that of the French. But the 
works of neither of these were practical, but rather 
anatomical and philosophical. Our subject was born 



His Two Professions. 



87 



before Dr. Leon, and before Koecker, the pioneer of 
the American profession, had established himself as a 
practical dentist in Baltimore and Philadelphia. It 
was not until 1826 that thelatter issued his eminently 
practical work on the subject, and then Mr. Howe had 
nearly arrived at manhood. At the time our subject 
attempted the business, no one in this country, even 
professed to understand the pathology of the teeth, or 
their relation to the rest of the human system, now 
known to be so intimate and far-reaching. 

When Mr. Howe had arrived at the fifteenth year 
of his age it is estimated that there were not over 
one hundred dentists of all grades and kinds within 
the United States, and when he began business a high 
authority has affirmed that the number did not exceed 
three hundred in the entire United States, and that 
not over one-sixth of these were well instructed. The 
implements as yet invented were few and compara- 
tively rude, and some of the best of these he was prob- 
ably not able to obtain. The few relics that remain 
of the tools he himself used at the first are curiosities 
indeed, and the possible use of some of them cannot 
be imagined, even by persons of the profession. 

His own necessities, however, drove him to seek 
the services of a dentist, and while under the hand of 
the operator the idea occurred to him with renewed 
force that it would be a good business for him. He 
could not endure hard manual labor, nor exposure to 
the severities of the weather. He had a good degree 



88 



His Two Professions. 



of mechanical taste and skill, and the command den- 
tistry would give him of his own time would permit him 
to accommodate his frequent seasons of prostration. 
As may readily be conceived, he was particularly ob- 
servant of all that was done in his own case. From 
this time he resorted to the work, took lessons of some 
of the dentists in the city, and sought employment 
for short periods of one or more of them. 

He had at the time an ' ' Aunt Rosa," who occupied 
a little two-story brick front house on the north- 
west corner of Grand and Mercer streets, No. 102 
Grand, who kindly rented him the second-story front 
room. He furnished it with a cheap ingrain carpet, 
and the needful chairs and table, and a lounge where- 
upon he might repose his feeble body, also with a 
working chair for his patients and a case of tools 
as good as he could obtain. He then hung out his 
little swinging sign, " J. M. Howe, Dentist," which 
in after years became so well known to a large circle 
in the city of New York. 

Thirty years afterwards, however, he says that he 
was influenced in selecting this profession by the fact 
that it would entangle him less with the world than 
almost any other business he could select, and would 
leave him more free to become a minister of Jesus 
Christ. There was in it less of bargain and sale, less 
of the cares of traffic, therefore less that would be 
likely to dim the spiritual brightness of his religious 
life. But also, the business required but little stock, 



His Two Professions. 



8 9 



and there was consequently less difficulty in leaving 
it, should he decide to join the conference. The first 
patient that appeared to seek his services was an old 
colored woman. After that there was a long in- 
terval, but one after another in the end ventured in, 
and he at length became fairly embarked in his life 
profession. He gave himself assiduously to the im- 
portant work of perfecting himself in the theory and 
practice of his profession, availing himself of the 
volumes then extant, but especially of the articles 
on the subject in the medical and other periodicals. 
The Drs. Parmly, of New York, were at that time 
prolific writers both of volumes and articles. But 
there were also other scholarly writers who did much 
about this time to lift this art into a profession. Some 
of them there were, like Dr. A. Snowden Piggott, who 
advanced into the science of " Chemistry and Metal- 
lurgy as applied to the Study and Practice of Dental 
Surgery," and this went far to indicate the wide field, 
both scientific and practical, so rapidly opening before 
dentists. But the crowning sources of his help were 
the "American Journal and Library of Dental 
Science," which began to be issued in Baltimore in 
1839, and the formation of the Society of Dental 
Surgeons, which was also organized about this time. 
He availed himself, it would seem, as best a feeble 
young man could, of all these growing and multiply- 
ing aids, and as the business gradually arose into a 
profession he arose with it in public estimation to 



90 



His Two Professions. 



the dignity of a doctor of dental surgery, and to a 
very exalted reputation in the mechanical part of his 
business. It became the secular pursuit of his life- 
time, and the first people of the land, and especially 
the most distinguished of the Methodist Church of 
both hemispheres, passed under his treatment for all 
kinds of dental work. 

In the year 1838 he removed his office to 209 
Grand street on the south side, near the Bowery, 
where was a house with room adequate for his en- 
larging business, and suited also for a family home, 
in which he continued to reside and carry on his 
business till, in quite advanced years, it seemed to 
him that the indications of Providence were that he 
should seek some rural suburb for his own rest, but 
especially for the health of his rapidly increasing 
family. 

It was customary with the dentists of the time, as 
their business increased, to take into their offices some 
youth desirous of learning the business who would 
acquire, by practice, skill in the mechanical parts of 
the business, be guided in reading and study, and 
gradually pass into the practice of dentistry. Dental 
colleges are of comparatively late origin, there being 
none during a large part of Mr. Howe's career. In 
this way, according to the style of the time, Mr. Howe 
instructed a long line of young men in this art and 
profession, several of whom have lived long enough 
to reflect honor both upon their instructor and their 



His Two Professions. 



9* 



profession. We may name among these Andrew 
Oakley, who took charge of Dr. Howe's business 
during his absence in Europe. Dr. Howe always 
honored the fidelity and skill of this young man, and 
cherished pleasant memories of him. Mr. Oakley 
subsequently entered the profession on his own account 
and had a successful and honorable career. He became 
well off as to possessions, but died early. Samuel 
Howe, Samuel Haight, Charles Sparks, Jeremiah 
Slocum, Alfred Goodale, Charles Bunting (son of 
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bunting, of the Wesleyan Conference, 
England), James H. Holden, and Mr. Farr were 
among these students. His own sons, John Morgan 
Howe and Charles Mortimer Howe, were also in- 
structed by him, though they also had the advantage 
of a collegiate course. John Morgan Howe, besides 
his degree in dentistry, took the full medical course, 
and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from 
the New York Homoeopathic College, and Charles 
Mortimer Howe received the degree of Doctor of 
Dental Science from the New York Dental College. 
We may incidentally add that Edwin Jenkins Howe, 
after graduating at the Wesleyan University as a 
Bachelor of Arts, graduated in medicine both at the 
New York College of Physicians and Surgeons and 
at the New York Homoeopathic College. He has 
now an extensive practice in the city of Newark. It 
is quite interesting to observe how Dr. Howe remem- 
bered those who were his students and pupils, and 



9 2 



His Two Professions. 



some of them not only with high regard, but with 
great personal affection. 

It is difficult for the youth of the present age, who 
have known nothing of dentistry except as a profes- 
sion in its now advanced perfection, to appreciate how 
comparatively rude was its condition but a single 
century ago. It will not less astonish them that with 
so little preparation for its important duties the sub- 
ject of this memoir entered upon it. It certainly 
must command their admiration that he was able so 
well to practice the art, and so fully to keep pace with 
the progress of the profession. Many who were not 
enterprising and industrious enough to prosecute 
their studies and familiarize themselves with modern 
inventions and methods in their line, were driven out 
of the profession, while Mr. Howe, an invalid, and 
busy with a spiritual calling beside, and a score of other 
activities, maintained throughout life a first rank 
among dentists. 

He did not materially suffer even when brought into 
competition with the graduates from dental colleges 
who added years of study sometimes to the ordinary 
office opportunities for practical experience in the 
various departments of work. His more wealthy and 
intelligent patrons clung tenaciously to him, even when 
age had enfeebled his fingers and dimmed his vision. 
When he retired, compelled to do so by increasing 
feebleness, he might be said to yet be in the very zenith 
of his professional career, and he had gathered as the 



His Two Professions. 



93 



result of his life-work quite a respectable little com- 
petence. His possessions, however, as will hereafter 
appear, were considerably increased by the rise in 
value of his real estate. 

We have already caught a glimpse of the struggles 
of mind through which Mr. Howe passed after the 
intimation was so clearly given him of his duty to preach 
the ever blessed gospel. He seemed to himself to 
have no adequate equipment, either mental or physical, 
for a work requiring such extensive traveling, such 
constant and severe exposures, and especially so 
nearly limitless drafts upon intellectual resources. He 
had no other thought, it is evident, than to unite him- 
self with the conference and assume the charge of 
congregations. The perpetual pressure of a distinct 
call from God to this great work was upon him ; but 
there was also as clear a conviction in his own mind 
of his personal unfitness in almost every respect for 
its great duties and demands. There was no dispo- 
sition in him to resist this Divine summons, but it was 
about impossible for his reason to consent, in view of 
the untoward circumstances, that the call was from 
Heaven. He could scarcely think it was not an illu- 
sion ; at least a fearful struggle of months resulted 
from these antagonisms. Sometimes it became an 
agony of soul in prayer for light and help from on 
high, and sometimes, as he about concluded that he 
could not preach, all hope of his personal salvation 
seemed to vanish, and that omnipotence and om- 



94 



His Two Professions. 



niscience must compensate for his inadequacies or he 
could never be saved. 

Reviewing the subject a quarter of a century after- 
wards, he says: "As to my being a minister, I am in 
the office, being called of God, and woe is me if I 
preach not the Gospel. I think I could not have lived 
had I withstood God's will in this thing, so powerful 
was the obligation upon me by day and by night for 
years, and to this day I preach as one that must 
give account. My health being frail prevented me 
from entering the pastorate or becoming an itinerant 
minister." 

At another time he says : " I entered into this office, 
not from a desire for the position, but from a sense of 
duty and with a tremendous burden of responsibility 
which caused me to fear to resist lest it should result 
in loss of my sense of acceptance with God, and finally 
my loss of heaven. My mind was greatly exercised 
on the subject of the ministry, but I never applied 'for 
local preachers' license, but was invited to be present 
at the quarterly conference of the Greene Street M. 
E. Church, by Rev. J. B. Stratton, the pastor, about 
the year 1835, when he made the request that I be 
licensed, which was granted, and subsequently I was 
ordained a deacon and then an elder. Both of these 
additional responsibilities were entered upon in the 
fear of the Lord, and with fixedness of purpose to serve 
the Lord in the Church fully. The way opened for 
me in every direction ; the churches were opened ; and 



His Two Professions. 



95 



in all the churches, with scarcely an exception, I have 
preached many times. The way also opened for me 
into the traveling ministry, but my health was so frail 
I feared to enter." 

Mr. Howe was licensed to preach at a quarterly 
conference, over which Rev. Samuel Merwin, P. E., 
presided, held in the Greene Street Church on the 
evening of March 9, 1836. He had, however, been 
licensed as an exhorter in 1833 during his stay in 
the neighborhood of Oswego, but the circumstances 
that led to it do not seem to be referred to by him at 
any time. He was accustomed to say that it was done 
at a little log school-house out in the country. The 
license is signed by Enoch Barnes, circuit preacher 
of Victory Circuit, and dated April 16, 1833. This 
license was approved and renewed on the 19th of 
March, 1834, at a quarterly conference held in the 
lecture-room of Greene Street Church, New York 
City, Rev. Samuel Merwin, P. E., presiding. 

Late in life we find him examining himself as to his 
motives in preaching the Gospel, and after having 
said that he gained by it nothing, either from the pastors 
or the general public, for a local preacher was not 
held in particular esteem, he adds : " What, then, has 
been my motive ? I answer, it is because a dispensation 
of the Gospel is given me. If I do it willingly, I have 
my reward ; but if not, a dispensation of the Gospel is 
given me, and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel ! 
'lama debtor both to the Jew and to the Greek.' I 



9 6 



His Two Professions. 



was raised up from a four years' sickness on condition 
that I preach Christ in all His fullness. My life was 
spared for this purpose ; all worldly pursuits were in- 
cidental. My great mission in life was to preach a 
dying, risen Jesus — not for pay from men; not for 
eclat or to gain a name among men. And in this I have 
succeeded well. Man has not given me much, but God 
has given me more than I deserve, a thousand-fold. 
My services have been very imperfect, but the church 
bore with me and the way opened before me. When 
I first began to venture into the pulpit, my knees 
smote together, my limbs would scarcely bear me, my 
hands would tremble, I felt so conscious of my lack 
of qualifications. I had said I will not preach if I lose 
my life ; but when very near to death I covenanted with 
God that if He would raise me up I would preach. 
Now, for thirty years, I have gone up and down 
among the churches, and God has borne with me. I 
say it to the praise of His glorious grace, for I was so 
weak in body and so illy qualified generally. 1 I have 
preached righteousness in the great congregation : 
lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou 
knowest!' I have had my reward, not in money, not 
in gratitude ; but God has given me house and home, 
wife and children, servants and cattle, silver and gold, 
and honor, too. I have always felt that 'in the service 
of God there is great reward.' Did I want money ? 
Cling my soul to God, for the silver and the gold are 
thine. Do I want friends? The hearts of all men are 



His Two Professions. 



97 



in His hands; He can raise up friends, and even clothe 
me with honor." The very day he wrote this he adds : 
''This morning, at 10% o'clock, preached at Boiling 
Springs from Ps. iv: 4, and this evening am to preach 
at Passaic from 'For I am now ready to be offered 
up.'" 

His labors as a local minister were constant, exten- 
sive, and continued through many years, and were 
highly prized by the church, and especially by many 
of its chief ministers, who knew the sincerity, and 
earnestness, and real value of those labors. 

As soon, therefore, as the lapse of time had made 
him eligible, he was recommended for orders — first 
deacon's orders and then elder's — and duly elected 
to them by the New York Annual Conference, and 
ordained by the bishops presiding at the sessions 
where he was elected. He was ordained deacon by 
Bishop Elijah Hedding, in the Sand Street Church 
of the city of Brooklyn, on the 19th of May, 1839, 
and elder by Bishop Thomas A. Morris, at the Sev- 
enth Street Church in the city of New York, on the 
2 1 st of May,- 1843. 

The pastors of the city, in the beginning of Mr. 
Howe's preaching, were accustomed to associate the 
local ministers with themselves on a plan for the cir- 
cuit or circuits — for the city was at first composed 
of one circuit, but afterwards was divided into two 
before it finally became so many distinct stations, or 
individual churches and congregations, each with its 

13 



98 His Two Professions. 

own pastor, as is now the arrangement. The object 
was to give three preaching services to each congre- 
gation every Sabbath day. Usually, also, a lecture 
or sermon was delivered in each city church on one 
week-day night of each week, beside the prayer- 
meeting and class-meetings, to which the pastor was 
expected to give personal attention. These appoint- 
ments, beside the many vacancies occasioned by ab- 
sence, temporary illness, and the entire falling out 
of pastors from their charges, furnished constant op- 
portunities for the local preachers, and chiefest among 
these was always Mr. Howe. 

We do not propose to attempt a sketch of his 
widely extended and constant labors in this work for 
at least a quarter of a century, before the afternoon 
preaching was abandoned and that hour given to the 
Sunday-school, the circuit system exchanged for the 
station, when each congregation has its own stated 
pastor, and other changes also occurred, by which 
the demand for this kind of service was still further 
diminished. The local preacher of whom we write, 
moreover, was, almost imperceptibly to himself, grow- 
ing older. The young world was rushing on with 
its own enterprises and altered tastes and usages, 
and something of trial came to him of which it will 
be our duty now to speak. 

But his was a long career of highly appreciated 
ministerial activity. He was, for this period, in some 
of the city pulpits or those adjacent to the city, or at 



His Two Professions. 



99 



some communion service, almost every Sabbath, 
often, in the absence of the present convenient pub- 
lic conveyances, walking several miles to and from 
his appointment. For about two-thirds of the year 
1835 ne supplied the pastorate in Astoria, L. I. For 
about a year, also, after the health of Rev. Lewis 
Pease failed, he performed in his stead the duties of 
chaplain of the New York Hospital, to which office 
he himself afterwards succeeded, and in which he 
served for three years till driven from it by consump- 
tion. This will hereafter be more fully represented. 
But while chaplain in the hospital, his services in the 
pulpits of the city and its environs were not inter- 
mitted. When he afterwards removed his family to a 
more retired home, the country opened its wide area 
for his services, and, in the village which at length 
became his permanent abode, he became really the 
founder of a church of which he was often in its be- 
ginnings for considerable periods the actual pastor. 
For ten successive years he sent, every Sabbath, 
his horses and carriage to "The Notch," a neighbor- 
hood some four miles from his home, that his pastor 
might be conveyed there to preach ; and whenever 
the pastor failed, he went himself and preached, this 
being, for considerable periods, three times out of 
four. "During all this time," he writes, "I can call 
to mind no recognition of anything like a grateful 
spirit for my own or my horses' services, except one 
case of a woman of very advanced years, who had 



IOO 



His Two Professions. 



several times expressed her thankfulness. Nor have 
I known of any conversion there in all that time save 
one young woman." A sensitive nature like his could 
readily find discouragement in this unacknowledged 
expenditure of effort, time, and money. 

As years passed on and changes came, and there 
was little call for his services, especially residing as 
he did away from the most accessible centers, a 
gentle undertone of murmuring and complaint runs 
through all his writing. He even puts on sensitive- 
ness in behalf of the entire fraternity of local preach- 
ers, feeling that they were not duly honored and 
employed by the pastors. Throughout his notes he 
heroically champions their cause and defends the 
value of their labors. 

He especially resented the action of the Preachers' 
Meeting of the city of New York, by which, about 
1878, it decided that none but itinerant ministers of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church should be admitted 
to their regular Monday morning meetings. This 
action was taken because of incorrect and injurious 
reports of the discussions and proceedings of the 
meeting that appeared in the public prints of the city. 
As some of these were known to have proceeded 
from reporters who were local preachers, no relaxa- 
tion of the rule could be obtained in their favor, 
though it was several times attempted. He could not 
deem this otherwise than as an evidence of the les- 
sening esteem in which local preachers were held by 



His Two Professions, 



101 



the pastors, who had almost entirely ceased to invite 
them to their pulpits, or, as it seemed to him, to show 
them any marks of professional regard. He in- 
variably speaks of it as an action excluding local 
preachers from the regular Monday morning pastors' 
meetings, while the local preachers were not at all 
named or aimed at, but the action simply limited the 
right to attend these meetings to the pastors only 
for whom they were intended. It was not meant as 
an indignity to any class, lay or ministerial. 

He was sensitively alive to anything that would 
belittle the local preacher, and he thought the minis- 
ters of New York City and vicinity, by excluding the 
local preachers, had done this. He himself had all 
his life declined other associations, and now to be ex- 
cluded from his chosen ones was very sore. He did 
not think that if a certain local preacher had reported 
in an offensive form for the daily papers the sayings 
in the weekly meetings this was a reason why all 
local preachers should be excluded. Very few local 
preachers could attend at all, for they were generally 
men of daily employments, but the whole profession 
felt like resenting the stigma supposed to be involved 
in the exclusion. For the pastors to do this seemed 
to them like the stronger striking the weaker. Dr. 
Howe thought the pastors should allow the local 
preachers the advantages — social, religious, ecclesias- 
tical, and intellectual — to be derived from attending 
these clerical gatherings, for professional pleasure 



102 



His Two Professions, 



and improvement. He conceded that the advance 
of the Church and of society had left little room for 
the discourses of uncultured men, at least in the older 
parts of our country, and particularly in the great 
cities. Yet, he was not sure but a little more plain, 
earnest preaching after the old type would be a 
useful variety, and of service even in metropolitan 
churches, or that the advances in culture, refinement, 
architecture, and music were not somewhat at the 
expense of spiritual and evangelistic power. 

He thought this action of the New York preachers 
was in striking contrast with the respect shown by 
pastors in certain other cities, who entertained the 
Association of Local Preachers at its annual meet- 
ings, opening the homes of the people and their pul- 
pits to the body. This, he thought, dignified the local 
preacher, and increased his capabilities and useful- 
ness. He believed that as the General Conference 
had established the order of local ministers, and rec- 
ognized it in various distinct ways, the pastors should 
recognize it and honor it. 

Thus he poured out his wounded heart at great 
length On the theme, but we find him at a later date 
saying that if he only had time and strength he would 
revise many things he had written on this subject. 
The nature of the changes he would have made 
is not intimated. He probably had come to see that 
little would be gained by the pastor sitting a silent 
listener, while, as a mere courtesy to an honored 



His Two Professions. 103 

local preacher, he gave him the occupancy of his 
pulpit. Yet, he by no means conceded that all who 
were of this class were incompetent to fill the best 
pulpits. He says at one time: " It is not because 
the local preachers have not talents and ability to tell 
the Story of the Cross with great effectiveness. Men 
who can electrify an audience of legislators of the 
State or General Government if soundly converted to 
God certainly cannot lack ability to preach the Gos- 
pel. But men who preach without pay and follow 
another vocation beside the ministry are no longer 
wanted in the pulpits of the older sections and great 
cities. For a while they may be encouraged in the 
sparsely settled new sections of the country, but in 
time they must all be superseded, as a class of 
preachers. But good, pious, intelligent men and 
women may win souls to God anywhere and at any 
time." 

It seemed to him sometimes as if the later pastorate 
in general were inclined to look askance at the lay 
ministry, and for no good reason. He thought that 
perhaps some of the younger men, bearing college 
diplomas, had little respect for men like himself, com- 
paratively self-educated. "Yet," as he could plainly 
see, and wrote, "with the older men in the ministry, 
men of the best talents and position, I have enjoyed 
the closest sympathy and friendship, and their most 
cordial support ; such as Bishops Waugh, Hedding, 
Janes, Drs. Dempster, Pitman, Levings, Nathan 



104 His Two Professions. 

Bangs, Heman Bangs, P. P. Sanford, Robert Seney, 
and scores of others." He also could plainly see that 
his ordination, first as deacon and then as elder, set 
the broad seal of the great New York Conference to 
his credentials, and was a testimony of the esteem of 
its members that he must not forget. More than once 
he catalogues his distinguished friends in the minis- 
try, and the lists are never identical. In cataloguing 
at another time, he says: " Among these I number 
Francis Hodgson, the late John Dempster, Charles 
Pitman, Bartholomew Creagh, J. T. Crane, J. F. 
Hurst, Nathan Bangs, and a large number of men 
of great minds who never seemed to think it would 
deteriorate from their dignity to show distinguished 
Christian courtesy to a local preacher. For the most 
part, I have received from the hands of the regular 
itinerants much, and even more than I could have 
asked, for which I owe them a debt of love and grati- 
tude." 

One cannot read this writing, done in later years, 
without being impressed that he felt sad and was 
somewhat disposed to murmur that, all his long life 
of labor and sacrifice to the contrary, his mission as a 
preacher seemed now to be out. On some extraor- 
dinary occasions the attentions of some old friend 
would arouse and startle him. Giving an account 
of one such occasion, he says : "-Bishop Janes 
treated me just as well as he did Dr. Joseph 
Cummings." 



His Two Professions. 



On other occasions he would strive to search his 
own conduct in order to ascertain whether anything 
in it had led to the utter neglect of himself by some 
of the pastors. He was the chief financial support 
of his own pastor. He endeavored in all possi- 
ble ways to cooperate with the conference ministers 
in their undertakings of every kind. Respected and 
beloved by a large circle, he was often called upon 
to marry, baptize, attend funerals, etc., but he always 
passed over the fees, if any, to the pastor. He never 
allowed himself to be a pecuniary gainer by his lay 
ministry, but, on the contrary, was in his secular pro- 
fession a widespread benefactor, especially to his 
brethren in the pastoral work. There was some- 
thing like grim humor in the way he would proffer 
his professional services, saying: "It will give me 
great pleasure, brother, to pull a tooth for you any 
time when you will call." 

He was once chosen President of the Local Preach- 
ers' Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and took great interest in the welfare of the Associa- 
tion. He believed it deserved the fostering care of the 
Church, and that if it could but receive such encour- 
agement and help as were given to local preachers 
by the early fathers of Methodism their labors of 
love would still be eminently helpful in God's cause. 
It is not for us, in gathering his memoirs, to define 
in how much of all this view of his, of the usefulness 
of local preachers, he was right, and in how far he 
14 



io6 His Two Professions. 



had failed to note the ceaseless and resistless tide of 
change that had brought about unsought the state of 
the case he so much deplored. It may be that it is for 
us to emphasize his thought that laymen, who from 
lofty rostrums and honored judges' seats can make 
utterances to which the world will pause and incline 
its ear, ought to be heard, licensed or unlicensed, in 
defense of God's Holy Word, and for the exaltation 
of Him whose " name is above every name " and 
before whom eventually " every knee must bow." 

It was always to him a great privilege to preach 
the Gospel, an honor of which he felt himself utterly 
unworthy. He also found in it sometimes the great- 
est satisfaction and joy. A few extracts from among 
scores that might be given will illustrate this. On 
the 14th of February, 1858, he says: ' 'This morning, 
after breakfast and prayers, rode, with my little son 
George, to Paterson, to supply the pulpit of Prospect 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Thomas 
H. Smith, pastor, who was sick. Preached from 
1 John ii : 1, 2, and had much liberty. The result of 
the services I wait for the day of eternity to reveal, 
but I felt thankful to be honored of God in being 
permitted to labor in His work. Day snowy, stormy, 
and cold, but to me it was a blessed morning 
service." 

On the 28th of January, 1866, he says: " This day 
has been, in some respects, a blessed day to my soul. 
At ten o'clock I preached in the Academy to about 



His Two Professions. 107 

thirty persons from Luke iv : 18, 19, 'The Spirit of 
the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to 
preach to the poor.' Had much liberty while I set 
forth the offices of Christ, and, so far as I can tell, it 
was a delightful and profitable season, that will tell 
in eternity. Then I met a few in class, and en- 
deavored to strengthen the faith of the little flock. 
During the past week have read a little work 
addressed to the 'Winner of souls.' It taught that 
no efforts of a minister, intellectual or otherwise, are 
of any account if souls are not saved. Its effect was 
saddening to my spirit, but then I remembered, 
' Cast thy bread upon the waters,' etc., and took 
courage to work on. The Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Passaic has been in my charge since 
August, 1864, during which I have preached with 
only occasional help." 

Dr. Howe was a man of slender form, and evidently 
an invalid. Like Paul, he preached the Gospel 
" through infirmity of the flesh." His pale counte- 
nance, as he arose in the pulpit, and delicate voice, 
with a sort of musical plaintiveness in its tones, 
appealed to you for a hearing. As he read the 
hymns and Scriptures, and especially as he offered 
prayer, his personal communion with God, and the 
purity of his purpose to be a blessing to you, became 
undoubted. His chosen text, when it was announced, 
was not novel or striking, but was one of the familiar 
texts, perchance about the saving efficacy of the 



108 His Two Professions, 

blood of Christ, the inspiring, comforting, directing, 
sustaining, or sanctifying offices of the Holy Ghost, 
the duty of repentance, the holy privilege of faith in 
God and its blessed effects on the heart and life, of 
the possibility of adoption as sons of God, and of 
our obtaining a full and joyful assurance of this 
princely relationship, of the nature of our heavenly 
inheritance, and very rarely of the dreadful state of 
the finally impenitent. The text announced, he pro- 
ceeded to explain its connections, or to unfold its 
general import, and then, after the old style of ser- 
monizing, divided it into two or three heads, and 
when they were discussed to his satisfaction he 
endeavored, by exhortation, illustration, and appeal, 
to seal the whole upon the hearts of his auditors. 
He had not the rotund volume of voice needful to 
ring out these appeals with the greatest effect, but 
the soundness of his points, and the gentle persuasive 
manner of putting them, always commanded atten- 
tion ; and to them the conscience and heart were 
likely to yield. The hearer might not judge him an 
orator or eloquent, the sermon he might not think a 
great one, but he was compelled to confess that it 
was a good one, and he was more than willing to 
hear the preacher again. 

During all the strength of Dr. Howe's manhood, 
he was not an unwelcome visitor to any pulpit, how- 
ever educated, refined, distinguished, or wealthy the 
congregation before it might be. He was a work- 



His Two Professions. 



1 00. 



man of whom the church was "not ashamed," and 
we have no doubt that in the eternity to which he 
remanded so many of his efforts so far as results are 
concerned, his soul will be surprised and gladdened 
at the magnificence of those results. He was not 
vain because of any distinction among men which he 
thought he had won, but quite to the contrary, for he 
was excessively depreciatory of himself. He doubt- 
less is now realizing what often comforted his heart 
on earth, and has comforted the hearts of many min- 
isters ever since the time of Peter, who was inspired 
to pen the thought that " When the Chief Shepherd 
shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that 
fadeth not away." 



V. 



CHAPLAINCY IN THE HOSPITAL. 
N the 6th day of June, 1837, Mr. Howe was 



V-7 appointed by the governors of the New York 
Hospital chaplain of the house for the coming 
year. The institution was then located on Broad- 
way at the head of Pearl street, and, being so promi- 
nently and centrally situated, was largely taxed to 
meet the demands of the city for the treatment of all 
forms of disease, as well as for surgical cases, so 
commonly occurring amid the exposures to accident 
of daily labor and business. The governors were 
careful to demand the most enlarged catholicity in 
dealing with patients of all religious beliefs, or, as 
was sadly frequent, of none at all. Previous to his 
appointment he had officiated for several months as 




no 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital, 1 1 1 



chaplain in the stead of Rev. Lewis Pease, the 
chaplain for the current year, by whose kind con- 
sideration and entirely without his own knowledge 
he had been recommended as his successor. The 
appointment was pressed by gentlemen to whom Mr. 
Howe's temporary labors had highly commended 
themselves. 

He entered upon his office with a deep sense of 
the eternal solemnities attendant upon daily min- 
istering to persons in the immediate presence of 
death. His own inabilities, intellectual and religious, 
in view of the great responsibilities of the post, fairly 
oppressed him. But he believed God, in response to 
his prayers, would strengthen and instruct him, and 
otherwise qualify him for his duties. In his little note- 
book, he says : "I have much reason to expect that 
the Lord will stand by me, for I have been already 
wonderfully blessed in the discharge of my duties " ; 
and he proceeds to detail instances of blessings that 
came to his own heart, and of saving power that 
came to the hearts of others while he labored in 
the different wards. 

He believed also that exposed as he was, in his 
great bodily weakness, to every kind of disease, his 
own race would be short. " My design, however," 
he says, 1 'is not to retrace my steps, but to set my 
house in order and leave the event to God." He 
was delighted with the Christian cooperation of Mr. 
Whittemore, the superintendent of the house, and 



ii2 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



his wife, who were most excellent Presbyterian 
Christians, and also with the benevolent and pious 
spirit of some of the governors of the institution, who 
were indeed generally among the most worthy, re- 
spectable, and wealthy of the citizens. Among the 
instructions given him by Mr. Schieflin, upon his ap- 
pointment, was " Don't be too religious — don't be 
bigoted, nor sectarian. Have charity for all." 

The chaplain in his little note-book details to 
some extent his daily round of duties, and what 
appeared to him their results. Now, his own soul 
is wonderfully blessed, so that his faith in God was 
beyond that of any time for years. This was while 
he was exhorting some sick women, " showing them 
the willingness of God to save, comparing Him to a 
loving father and comparing men to profligate 
children." On another occasion he is greatly en- 
couraged at witnessing the triumphant death of a 
young man who had been brought in about a week 
previous, and had been led by the chaplain's teach- 
ing into the blessed hope of life everlasting. He 
sometimes felt that God used him for His glory in 
the restoration of backslidden ones to whom the 
afflictions through which they were passing gave 
him opportunity to point them to their neglected 
Christ, who though forgotten by them was neverthe- 
less touched with the feeling of their infirmities, and 
would become their friend, comforter, and deliverer. 
There were cases of diseases that had come of im- 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 1 1 3 



moralities. Time after time his notes break into 
philippics against rum drinking, as the most fruitful 
source of the accidents and diseases that infest man- 
kind. There, too, was the stranger in a strange land, 
sick in body, but more sick at heart. Cases there 
were of this kind of persons who could not under- 
stand a word of the English tongue, and no interpre- 
ter could be found to reveal their wants. There, too, 
was the man of former wealth, divorced from his 
wife, dependent now for all things, and every kindly 
office, upon benevolent strangers ; whose tale revealed 
the fact that he had been a Christian himself, the 
wife, who was a Christian when he married her, 
would have still been his faithful and loving spouse, 
and his fortune would not have been scattered to the 
winds but for his own misdeeds. The chaplain had 
to struggle at times with the theological crank, indulg- 
ing all kinds of doctrinal fancies — and at other times 
with those who avowed disbelief in God and in every 
spiritual thing. Some there were dying in their self- 
righteousness, not seeming to apprehend the least 
danger in appearing before God, clad only in their 
own filthy rags. There were multitudes of Roman 
Catholics who thought it an all-sufficient response to 
his loving presentations of the adorable Redeemer 
that they did not believe in his religion. Coarse 
and unmannerly infidels in a few cases drove him 
from their bedsides, sometimes with oaths and im- 
precations. 

*5 



H4 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



Besides ministering from couch to couch, it was his 
custom to preach in the wards to such companies of 
patients as he might be able to assemble, usually about 
fifty, and sometimes one hundred in number. To him 
the institution seemed a great missionary field, afford- 
ing the broadest possible variety of opportunity, and 
yielding an abundant recompense for faithful evan- 
gelistic labor. Many patients died, some of them 
leaving no evidence of changed hearts ; some died 
like brutes, and the awful doubt about their eternity 
was a perpetual agony to the tender, loving soul of 
Chaplain Howe. He feared lest he himself in the 
eyes of the omniscient Judge might not have done 
all that was possible towards their salvation. He 
knew that he must give account to God for his work, 
but he knew also that his message rejected, increased 
the guilt and condemnation of the dying one. If it 
were not a savor of life unto life, it must become a 
savor of death unto death. 

He struggled much in prayer with his Divine Mas- 
ter, and was glad indeed to feel that he had reason- 
able ground to confidently expect that he would have 
some stars in his crown from these toils and tears 
expended in the hospital. 

He had an immensity of interest in his work, and 
every day of visitation only increased his conviction 
of the wide field every great city opens for houses of 
mercy, such as hospitals are, and that not only for 
the poor and vile, but for people of all ranks and 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 1 1 5 



conditions that may need special treatment, or may 
be overtaken by disease when their own homes are 
inaccessible, or the needful treatment is impossible 
there. 

Of the numerous cases preserved in his note-book 
we must specialize but very few, and they must be 
greatly curtailed. On the 2 5th day of November, 1 837, 
upon entering one of the wards in the main building, 
a young man, after the usual salutations, said to him : 
"I must tell you who and what I am. I have been 
anxiously expecting you all day. I am a Methodist 
traveling preacher from England. I have been sub- 
ject to occasional brief attacks of insanity. In my 
delirium I do the strangest and most unnatural 
things. During one of these paroxysms I must 
have left England ; I cannot account for my being 
here, but I wish to return to England." In its sequel, 
his history seemed to be as follows : This young man 
was the son of an eminent Wesleyan clergyman, the 
Rev. John Hodgson, at this time retired from the 
full labors of the conference. Just prior to the 
Wesleyan Conference of the former year, when he 
was to have passed the usual conference examina- 
tions, intensity of application to preparatory study, 
and great solicitude about the approaching examina- 
tion, upon which his connection with the conference 
depended, proved too severe a strain upon his nerv- 
ous system, and his reason became prostrated. He 
disappeared from his friends and charge, and was 



1 1 6 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



not found till after some days. Then he was in a 
sad plight, and almost entirely destitute of clothing. 
He was taken to London, and lodged for a time in 
the theological seminary. Having become restored, 
Dr. Bunting sent him to Bath, where he was cordially 
received and became greatly beloved by the people. 
Here he remained until just before the latest Wes- 
leyan Conference, when he was again missed. The 
last seen of him was at a missionary meeting, one of 
a series, in which he had made several addresses. 
With him also disappeared ninety pounds sterling, 
the property of the church that he had served. He 
seems to have gone to Bristol, changed his name to 
Henry Jones, and under that fictitious name suc- 
ceeded in getting a passage to New York, where 
he arrived with nothing but a single guinea in his 
pocket, and no friends in the city or country. He 
took temporary board, but being sick, and in a few 
days out of money, he was sent to the hospital. The 
case was supposed to be one of inflammatory rheu- 
matism, but it proved to be paralysis. For two 
months he was unable to use any of his limbs. 

The chaplain summoned to his counsel Dr. David 
M. Reese, one of New York's eminent physicians, 
and like himself a Methodist local preacher, and 
they called to their aid a Methodist brother, Francis 
Hall, Esq., of the Commercial Advertiser, and Mr. 
Hall's pastor, Rev. Francis Hodgson. Naturally, 
they at once thought of the father and friends in 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 117 



England, who must be so much distressed by the 
disappearance from them of this young minister, and 
as neither steamships nor telegraphs yet existed, the 
slow mail of a sailing vessel bore as best it could 
to those anxious circles their first tidings from the 
wanderer. Next, they attempted to get him on ship- 
board, but this was a failure, for, although they had 
preengaged his passage, yet upon taking him in a 
hack to the pier, the ship's captain, discovering that 
he had to be carried on board, refused to receive him, 
and they were compelled to return with him to the 
hospital. 

This case was one of great interest to these friends 
and of anxiety as well. They knew not the young 
man, nor could they be absolutely certain of the truth- 
fulness of his narrative. On the one hand, he was 
unquestionably familiar with persons and places well 
known to them in England. He presented to them 
what purported to be some of his manuscripts, and 
these were by no means ordinary compositions, but 
were masterly in thought and argument, and of the 
first order in literary execution. His appearance 
generally was very prepossessing ; with a high fore- 
head, fringed with beautiful black hair, very bald 
at the crown of his head, and with jet black beard. 
He had a fair, florid complexion and a bright and 
sparkling eye. "All in all," says Chaplain Howe, 
"he must have been one of the handsomest of men, 
though now seemingly a complete wreck." But 



n8 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



there were perplexing uncertainties about the case. 
Total abstinence was by no means in those days 
the universal doctrine of American Methodism, and 
liquors were still more freely used by English Wes- 
leyans, both ministers and people, than at present. 
Certain queryings could not be suppressed, such as, 
were those spasms of insanity after all only dreadful 
lapses into inebriety? His florid complexion almost 
suggested the thought. Then again, was he all un- 
conscious of the nature of his doing when he carried 
off the ninety pounds of church funds ? — and — 
and — . 

But the New York Hospital was built to be kind 
to the erring as well as to the good, and Christian 
ministers, physicians, and men of business adopted 
the judgment of charity and acted the part of fathers 
and brothers to the young man, and in the end sent 
him home, supposing it was to die. The case is but 
one of hundreds that might be cited, which incon- 
testably prove that the hospital is indispensable to a 
Christian civilization, and the office of the Christian 
ministry is like the perpetual dwelling of the Lord 
Jesus among sinful and sorrowing humanity. This 
case, however, proved genuine and afterwards had its 
joys for the chaplain. When the chaplain was an 
invalid in England, the grateful friends of the young 
man combined with the young man himself in every 
possible way to return the kindness extended by the 
chaplain in the hospital. In 1842 the venerable 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 119 



Rev. John Hodgson, at the age of seventy-two, writes 
to Mr. Howe, pouring out his gratitude and love 
as follows : " Dear John resides at Whitby. He is 
master of the Wesleyan day school at a liberal salary, 
and is married to a lady every way suitable to him, 
and is, I believe, very happy with her." 

The next case we will detail, to exhibit somewhat 
the chaplain's life of usefulness, will be that of "a 
caviler," as he styles him. He was exceedingly 
ignorant of God, but correspondingly bitter in his 
enmity to Him and his word. He was a very cor- 
pulent man, about fifty years of age. The chaplain 
had attempted several conversations with him, but, 
lying in agony upon his bed, he always displayed his 
skill in theological polemics by trying to make it a 
mere fencing match to ward off every blow aimed by 
the chaplain at his heart. One day the chaplain 
coming to him found him in tears, and the poor man 
begged for an interest in the faithful minister's 
prayers. This was, of course, very encouraging to 
Chaplain Howe, but at the very next visit the 
chaplain found him just as antagonistic as ever to 
all spiritual truths. " I conclude," said the caviler, 
" that if one only does as well as he can without 
reference to the Bible, he will do well enough." 

The chaplain, after hearing him awhile, quoted to 
him St. Peter's words about St. Paul's writings, in 
which he says there are some things hard to be un- 
derstood which they that are ignorant wrest, as they 



120 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction, 
and the chaplain endeavored to show the poor man 
also that, in all that is essential to salvation, a way- 
faring man though a fool need not err. The chap- 
lain also told him that if any one had not the law, he 
should be judged without the law, but that it would 
be quite the contrary with those who actually had 
the law, but refused to learn it or obey it. 

It is needless to say it was a fruitless match at 
theological sparring. At a later date the chaplain 
had given to the patients in the room where this 
man lay a word of exhortation in common, the bur- 
den of which was that sin had brought death and all 
our misery into the world, and that consequently 
sufferers, especially, should hate sin and gladly em- 
brace salvation from it. He then pointed out the 
remedy for sin and all its ills, and plead with the 
company to accept Christ, through whom all our 
sufferings might be transmuted into blessings. The 
exhortation over, our universalist promptly sum- 
moned the chaplain to his couch and demanded of 
him in what way our sufferings could benefit us, 
whether they expiated our sins and were the means 
of mitigating our punishment in the other world, or 
in what way could they prove a blessing to us. The 
chaplain patiently endeavored to show him that our 
sufferings had in them no quality that could procure 
the smallest Divine favor. This was to be procured 
only through Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour. 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 121 



They might, by Divine grace, lead us to Christ, and, 
properly endured, might develop in us a purer and 
better life. 

The next visit he attempted to prove to the chap- 
lain that there was a man before Adam and Eve, for 
he pointed out that a male and female are spoken of 
in the first chapter of Genesis as having been already 
created, whereas the account of the creation of 
Adam and Eve is not given until the second chapter 
of Genesis. The chaplain as patiently but as clearly 
taught him the current exegesis in the case, citing 
1 Cor. xv : 45, where Adam is distinctly called the 
first man, and asking him to reconcile this statement 
with his theory of creation. The chaplain at length 
concluded that the difficulty was not in the Bible, 
but in the depraved human heart, in the state of 
enmity to Christ and the claims of His Gospel, so 
universal in fallen human nature. Thus, this poor 
sufferer maintained a constant warfare upon his 
Maker, Benefactor, and Redeemer, with only an oc- 
casional breaking in of some strange and stray beams 
of repentance, and at length went to settle the case 
with God himself. 

There were instances where the draft was not, as 
in this one, upon the intellectual resources, but upon 
the sympathies, upon the heart's most melting inter- 
est with God. Such was the case of a certain man 
and his wife lying in different wards, the victims of 
an explosion of gunpowder. The woman was a 
16 



122 Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 

Christian, a member of the Methodist Church ; the 
man had been addicted to drink and was a gunsmith 
by profession. Not being fully himself, he had a 
few days before lighted a match where there were 
some grains of powder sprinkled upon his table, and 
these communicated with a line of grains that led to 
a cask of the explosive. The consequence was an 
explosion of the whole, which was so violent as to 
blow out the front of the building, fearfully mangle 
the man, and greatly injure also his wife. She was 
aware that he must die, and knew how unprepared 
he was to meet his God. She could not go to him 
to administer either to his body or soul. Most pit- 
eously did she plead that everything possible should 
be done for her dying husband's soul. Her anxiety 
was chiefly about the other world. It needs but 
little imagination to realize the anxious position of a 
chaplain situated between two such souls, necessarily 
separated from each other at such an hour as this, 
and manifestly soon to be separated forever. He 
gave himself to helping the poor fellow find his way 
to Christ, but in the end felt great uncertainty as to 
the destiny of that immortal soul. 

The surgical cases generally appealed to all his 
heart and soul, and called forth every energy of the 
Christian minister of which he was capable. But 
perhaps we have furnished instances enough to give 
at least some conception of his work. 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



123 



The chaplaincy of the hospital did not entirely 
engross the time of Mr. Howe, but was in addition 
to the work of his profession as a dentist. He gave 
himself, moreover, to enlarged church labors of vari- 
ous kinds. He was the leader of two church classes, 
and was a frequent attendant at the regular weekly 
prayer-meeting. We find him, also, preaching much 
in the churches of the city, which in those days, as 
we have already explained, were wont to have three 
preaching services every Sabbath, and one mid-week 
preaching service. Acceptable as he was to the con- 
gregations, he was by his frequent services a great 
relief to the preachers of the city. His memorandum 
books show in some instances that the Sabbath was 
fully occupied from morning till night with Sunday 
public labors. When not himself officiating, he 
was usually a most prayerful and attentive listener 
to the Word as dispensed by others in his home 
congregation. 

Nor was this a rugged man of whom we write. 
Various physical weaknesses, such as we have already 
indicated, clung to him through every week and month 
and year of this period. Sometimes these were at- 
tended with great suffering and feebleness, and some- 
times with fainting and prostration. It was wonderful 
that with so frail and feeble a body he could accom- 
plish so much. Among some recorded New Year's 
reflections for 1838 are the following: "I am led 



124 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 



to think whether death is not hard in pursuit of 
me. He has tracked me in the shape of disease for 
some years. Every now and then he seems to close 
in with me and we have a hard grapple for it, but the 
Lord has defended me and not permitted the monster 
to accomplish his work, though he has kept close on 
my heels. He followed me to Connecticut, whither I 
went to get away from him, and thence to various 
other States, but thanks be to God for my preserva- 
tion. Now he changes his attack a little, and takes 
me by the throat, and would fain choke me out of 
life. He has rendered my breathing difficult and my 
voice very weak, and has hindered me for the last 
month from preaching, and the prospect is I must 
cease to use my voice for a season at least. Even my 
classes I must cease to meet. The heat of the room, 
the confined air, and the exertion even of praying 
overcomes me. But I have a friend in God, — an able 
Physician, — and to Him will I, and do I, apply. The 
Lord will cheer my heart and strengthen my voice, 
and if I die it will be but a departure to be with 
Christ, which is far better." 

About this time we find him beginning to seek 
frequent help in his hospital visitations and preach- 
ings. Weeks frequently elapsed, and in one case 
four full months, but no record is made in his mem- 
orandum book, he being, doubtless, too feeble to 
write. He complains of a severe inflammation of 
the throat which seriously affected his voice, and ex- 



Chaplaincy in the Hospital. 125 



tended down into his lungs. At length he suspended 
his ministerial work for quite a period, and when re- 
sumed, it was chiefly by distributing tracts and lend- 
ing books rather than by prayer or exhortation. He 
seems to have been almost voiceless. This is, in 
fact, the beginning of that long struggle with pul- 
monary difficulties that so mysteriously shaped a 
great portion of his subsequent history. 




VI. 

HIS MARRIAGE AND EUROPEAN TOUR. 

ONE of the book agents of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, Rev. Thomas Mason, was an at- 
tendant, with his family, of the Greene Street M. E. 
Church, their residence being in Spring street near 
Wooster until they removed into their own hospit- 
able home long known as No. 12 Second street. 
There were several daughters, the eldest of which 
was named Mary. With her Dr. Howe had none 
other than the passing acquaintance for years of 
fellow-worshipers in the same house of God, and the 
high mutual regard that had sprung out of these 
associations. 

In the year 1836, when Mary was but eighteen 
years of age, she, unexpectedly to herself and family, 



126 



His Marriage and European Tour. 127 

received from Mr. Howe a statement of his exalted 
opinion of her, and his desire that there should exist 
between them still closer relations, with a view finally 
to matrimony. Well might he covet such a treasure. 
Her education was of the first order, and had now for 
some time been utilized by giving instruction in the 
seminary conducted for years by her mother, and 
which held a first rank in the city. Moreover, she 
was in perfect health, and bore the freshness of its 
bloom upon her cheek, and its expression in her eye, 
in the elasticity of her step, and in every movement 
of her body. Her manners were plain, but exhibited 
the effect of a life-time of association with the best 
and most cultured society that Methodism and the 
city generally afforded. She was an active, intelli- 
gent, cheerful Christian, converted on the 18th day 
of September, 1829, in her eleventh year, and on the 
8th day of February, 183 1, with her sister Elizabeth, 
received into the Greene Street Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Mary's whole religious life was like its beginning. 
She was true, stable, outspoken, earnest, cheerful, 
wise, and active, a comfort and a help even to her 
much experienced parents, in various vicissitudes and 
duties where her young arm and strong heart could 
render effective service. No wonder that Mr. Howe 
should decide that such a young woman would be to 
him an invaluable treasure, and that only opportunity 
was needed that his esteem might ripen into the 



128 His Marriage and European Totir. 

purest and strongest affection, the beginnings of 
which he already felt. 

But Mr. Howe had been for years an invalid: 
highly esteemed by Mary and her parents, but 
never once thought of in the close relations pro- 
posed. Her friends generally believed that Mr. 
Howe was in a hopeless decline of health, and her 
own judgment did not approve of the proposed alli- 
ance. In a very brief period she declined the pro- 
posals of Mr. Howe, and supposed the subject finally 
dismissed. 

But, almost immediately, doubt arose in her mind 
as to the purity of the motives that had prompted 
this important step. On Christmas of 1836 we find 
her writing on this subject as follows: "My mind is 
filled with opposing thoughts which distress, perplex, 
confuse, and make me wretched." Mr. Howe pur- 
posed to be an itinerant Methodist minister, and it 
seemed to her that possibly she was permitting 
broader ambitions than any that offered in this line, 
and worldly ones, to stand in the way of a call from 
God into His own work. She upbraids herself with 
pride and love of the world. In this contest of 
doubts and fears she betook herself frequently to 
God in prayer, and by the 6th of February, 1837, 
the problem was settled, a load rolled off her heart, 
and "I communicated," she writes, "the alteration in 
my mind to Mr. Howe, with the assent of my heart, 
my judgment, approving the step taken by himself." 



His Marriage and European Tour. 129 

At this time, as we have already seen, the health 
of Mr. Howe was very far from improving. It can 
be said in a word that it continued to fail. The best 
medical treatment the city afforded was sought and 
every panacea in which there was any reasonable 
hope was tried, but all in vain. Three of the best 
physicians of the city at length pronounced that tu- 
bercles had formed in his lungs, and, according to the 
medical judgment of the time, this was to sentence 
him to inevitable death, probably at no remote period. 
Medicine was supposed to be of little avail, and finally 
a voyage to Europe was advised as the last and only 
hope for the patient's life. 

The tie so recently formed made it all the more 
afflicting to place three thousand miles of sea between 
himself and America. But there was also his business 
and his ministerial charge, from both of which he 
must be separated at least for many months. But 
"all that a man hath will he give for his life." So he 
decided to go, and made the best arrangements pos- 
sible for leaving; placing his business in charge of 
Andrew Oakley, his assistant, and we scarcely know 
how the hospital was supplied. 

The question now arose whether or not he should 
be married before going, and so have the blessing of 
a loving wife's company and attentions. It was the 
impulse of Miss Mason's heart to go with him, but 
the calmer judgment of friends was not generally 
with her in this desire. She herself describes it as a 

17 



130 His Marriage and European Tour. 

conflict between feeling and duty, between nature 
and grace. It involved a tedious voyage in a sailing 
vessel, and when they should arrive in the foreign 
land, travel through the country largely by stage- 
coach. Few of the present accommodations for trav- 
elers would be anywhere found. A young lady 
would be painfully embarrassed should extreme ill- 
ness or death supervene while they were abroad. It 
was concluded she must not go. 

On the other hand, everything seemed to indicate 
that Mr. Howe should go. His physicians unani- 
mously and earnestly advised it as his only hope, 
though Mr. Howe himself, upon experience, became 
convinced that they were mistaken, and that it was 
not beneficial to him, but this was advice that he 
could not at the time despise. Moreover, the young 
minister in the hospital, of whom we have already 
spoken, could get no passage home without a com- 
panion, and Mr. Howe was constrained to escort him 
home ; at least this helped to turn the scale. 

The parting of this young couple, just plighted to 
each other by the closest vows, under the circum- 
stances can be better imagined than described. The 
date fixed for sailing was June 7, 1838. 

At about one o'clock p. m. Mr. Howe, accompanied 
by his brother George, went on board the ship New 
York, Captain Nivens, and at two o'clock she weighed 
anchor, and was towed down the bay by two steam- 
boats. At three o'clock they reached the Narrows, and 



His Marriage and European Tour. 131 

the wind being fair, he parted affectionately with his 
brother, the steamers cut loose from the ship, her 
sails filled, and she struck out for Sandy Hook and 
the ocean. 

There will be a special interest in his own record 
of this voyage, written at the time. His character, 
his heart, the events will all be better realized than 
by the words of another. 

He says: "My reflections on leaving my native 
land were of the most melancholy nature. I had left 
my dearest friends, all those that I loved, behind me, 
together with all my worldly goods or all that re- 
lated to my temporal interest, and my charge as the 
pastor of precious souls in the hospital. I was part- 
ing from my all ; and I saw before me a vast sheet of 
water of more than three thousand miles in extent 
which must be passed over and back again ere I 
could again stand on my native shores. Besides, I 
was bound for a land of strangers, where I was alto- 
gether unknown, and where I should find none to 
lighten up my depression by at least their sympathy. 
But all this. would have had no weight on my mind 
had it not been for the weak and infirm state of my 
health. I was sick and had been for months; my 
disease had been increasing, notwithstanding the ad- 
vice of physicians and the use of preventative medi- 
cines, and a voyage appeared to be the last resource. 
It was taken, as I view it, as one swallows medicine, 
not knowing what may be its effect — may be favor- 



132 His Marriage and European Tour. 

able, may be unfavorable ; thus I viewed the voyage in 
prospect. I knew there were perils from the sea, and 
perils of the elements to be encountered, as well as 
also the more to be dreaded sufferings and horrors of a 
protracted seasickness — which I supposed I had more 
to fear from, than all the rest together. Sometimes I 
was led to reflect that the consequences of the voyage 
might be my death, and then my body would find no 
resting place, but would be thrown into the great deep 
to be devoured by the fish ; but even to this thought 
I was measurably reconciled by that other one that 
the dead that are buried in the city do not long re- 
pose, but after a few years at most are thrown up by 
the sexton to give place to other dead, or to erect 
buildings; or if they repose in quietness, the stone 
that may be erected to ones memory is soon seen 
standing aslant, or thrown down, and one is soon for- 
gotten ; and I was led involuntarily to exclaim in the 
language of Sterne — 

" Cover my head with the turf or stone, 
'T will be all one, 't will be all one. 

" I was leaving my all behind, I was every moment 
launching out towards the great deep to be exposed 
to all forms of danger on my passage — and when 
I look forward to the possibility of enduring the 
voyage, that I would arrive in England in a very de- 
bilitated state, and that there I should have to en- 



His Marriage and European Tour. 133 



counter sickness, and perhaps death, I repeated to 
myself : 

" By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed, 
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed. 



" Such were my thoughts as I took my seat on a 
spar by the side of an old woman, — a steerage pas- 
senger, who looked pensive enough to make one sad 
indeed, — watching the progress we were making, 
and also the commands of the pilot, as well as their 
fulfillment by the sailors. Thus passed the time till 
about 5 p. m. We had passed the bar and all dangers 
of shoals or hindrances, and the wide ocean lay before 
us. Presently we saw nearing us a small schooner 
that I soon learned was the pilot boat to take from 
us our pilot. In a few minutes a small boat was seen 
making for our vessel, and in very little time he de- 
scended the side of the ship, and made for his little 
vessel. As he walked from the quarter-deck, pre- 
vious to his leaving us to descend to his boat, I rose 
and walked to the spot and looked down the side, 
half inclined to descend with him ; but when he had 
left us my spirit sank within me and I returned to my 
seat, saying, ' The last connecting link is cut that binds 
me to America,' and now I must forget all behind, 
and look forward to the port of destination. These 
melancholy reflections were alone relieved by the con- 
solations arising from religion. The remembrance 



134 His Marriage and European Tour. 



that the God that I had worshiped for some six 
years, and whose truths I had endeavored to pro- 
claim and which I had often seen exemplified in the 
relieving of the sufferings of the afflicted in life, and 
in the trying hour of death in many instances — that 
this same God was not only the God of the land, but 
of the sea also, and that His promises were mine, 
and that it was very wicked to doubt His care and 
protection ; and I finally settled down comforted by 
the conclusion that God is mine, and I am His, and 
that living or dying I am the Lord's. 

" O blessed support, which can alone be derived 
from an experimental acquaintance with a reconciled 
God, through the atoning merits of Christ, and 
which so supports one in all trying circumstances. 
In truth it is said, k Man's extremity is God's oppor- 
tunity.' 

"The advice given by Mr. Wesley is very profit- 
able : ' Never to look forward beyond an hour,' for 
'sufficient to the day is the evil thereof; L e., not to 
be anxious for the future, but to place an implicit 
reliance upon God's providential care. But I had 
scarcely time to revolve these thoughts in my mind 
ere I began to feel a dizziness about my head and 
a sickishness at my stomach which soon produced 
such a lassitude of physical strength as to interrupt 
my train of thought, and in a few minutes more I 
found myself cascading. The ship was sailing at the 
rate of about nine or ten knots an hour, with a mod- 



His Marriage and European Tour. 135 

erate sea rolling. After about an hour's seasickness 
on deck, I had the steward called, and with his assist- 
ance descended the cabin stairs to my berth. I 
turned in, with shoes and all my clothes on save my 
coat, and in this manner passed the night. Whether 
I turned over, or had strength to open my eyes once 
through the course of the night, I know not ; but I 
was sick beyond language to describe. On the next 
morning I called the steward to assist me on deck, 
for I had determined, sick or well, to get on deck and 
take the air; and although I was unable to sit up, 
and was laid on the deck, and very sick, yet the air 
was so soft and balmy that I found some relief. The 
next night I went to my berth as before, and lay in 
my shoes — not having power to take them off my- 
self, and not in fact caring whether they were off or 
on. The second day was passed in the same way — 
and the third — with increasing vomiting and entire 
prostration. So great was my sickness that fears 
began to be entertained for my life, when a medical 
man from among the steerage passengers prescribed 
for me. From this time I got better of my sickness ; 
and my fears that the seasickness would kill me gave 
way to brighter thoughts. I now began to think 
again about landing in a strange land where I should 
know no one, and gloomily pictured to myself Liver- 
pool, its streets and its inhabitants, and I was sad 
that in the midst of the multitude I would be all alone. 
But I was in some measure relieved by the reflection 



136 His Marriage and Etiropean Tour. 

that the ground upon which I should tread was my 
mother's ; that it was my kindred earth, and that I 
had some right to the soil, or at least the privilege of 
treading it; but, said I to myself, these are the feel- 
ings of a misanthrope and not those of a Christian ; 
this is temptation, and I must resist it. Then I 
viewed the strangers as my brethren, being made of 
the same blood, having descended from the same 
parents, and that they were redeemed by the pre- 
cious blood of the same Lord Jesus Christ, who had 
died for the sins of the world, that they worshiped 
the same God, and that after death they enjoyed the 
same happiness in the same heaven. These views 
comforted me. After all, said I, ' I shall find myself 
among the friends of God, and, through the love of 
God shed abroad in their hearts, they will be my 
friends. ' The voyage wore away without any extraor- 
dinary circumstances occurring; the wind was fair, 
and the sea was not very rough, and but for the 
coldness of the weather, as we got into more north- 
ern latitudes, it would have been as pleasant as we 
could have wished." 

He was able, before the voyage closed, to indulge 
in observations upon his fellow-passengers, many 
of whom quite interested him. There was the old 
Methodist lady returning from Canada, whither she 
had gone from Norfolk, England, to live with her 
children, but found them without bread to eat. 
There was the lady's maid who had gone with a 



His Marriage and European Tour, 137 

mistress who had inherited ^5000, but a fellow had 
married her, expended all her cash and got into jail, and 
she thought it time to go home. Mr. Howe had with 
him the young minister from the hospital. The cabin 
passengers consisted of three men besides themselves. 

The voyage at length wore away, in sixteen days, 
and passing up the Channel, land appeared; they 
anchored, and were rowed ashore. Baggage was 
examined by the Custom House officers, the usual 
solicitation for alms and fees — all even as now. 
Then Mr. Howe took comfortable quarters on St. 
Paul's Square, intending to remain till after the coro- 
nation of Victoria as Queen, which took place June 
28, 1838, the next day after his entering Liverpool. 
Our traveler found himself interested in the strange 
sights of the city and in the vast concourses of people 
which the occasion brought together. After a brief 
stay in Liverpool, he went by the slow stages of the 
time to London. He dots his route as follows : 
" Arrived in Liverpool the Wednesday, 27th June, 
1838; stayed until Friday; rambled about the town. 

" 29th. This day arrived in Manchester. Took tea 
and supper with Rev. Caulder. Saturday morning 
rambled about town. Population, 230,000. 

" 30th. Came to Leeds and took tea. Staid an hour 
and a half; rambled the town, and rode in the night 
to Darlington ; arrived at 2 a. m. Slept here. Spent 
Sabbath in Darlington. Population, 14,000. And in 
the evening came to Middlesboro', passing through 
18 



138 His Marriage and European Tour. 

Stockton ; have visited several times since Stockton, 
and Norton, which is a very ancient town. It is still, 
and has no appearance of life or animation. Streets 
paved, but overgrown with grass; it appears like 
the regions of the dead. Called on Rev. Harris in 
Stockton ; introduced to Rev. Van Gilley. Intro- 
duced to Rev. Woolsey, of Darlington. In Middles- 
boro', where I now am, can see, at about ten miles 
distance, the hill called Roseberry Topping, near 
which is a monument to the memory of Captain 
Cook, who sailed around the world, and which is in 
the vicinity of the birthplace of Rev. Robert Newton. 
Middlesboro' is a new place, about seven years old ; 
has about 3000 inhabitants ; its business is principally 
loading ships with coal. Also in Billingham, a little 
town three miles from Middlesboro'. Visited three 
times Ormsby, a little village four and a half miles 
from Middlesboro'." 

There was, at the capital, much to see, and he did 
his best to see the sights; cathedrals, castles, parks, 
and notable persons and places, etc., etc., but we have 
no purpose of describing London as it appeared fifty 
years ago, or now, which we must do to give his 
observations. 

On Sabbath evening, September 9, 1838, Mr. 
Howe, in London, writes, as follows: "I am now 
decidedly a consumptive. My lungs, particularly the 
right one, is diseased with tubercles, which is con- 
sidered, by all the most learned medical writers, 



His Marriage and European Tour. 139 

incurable. Dr. Reese had heard that in Paris there 
were physicians who claimed to be able to cure 
tubercles, and he desired me to go to Paris for 
observation. But, in addition to being a consumptive, 
I am a pilgrim and a stranger. The shrine I would 
reach is beyond the sea. I am weak and wearied. 
All the comforts that money can bring I have, but 
sympathy is not in the market ; money cannot buy a 
loving interest in one's behalf. So that, among the 
multitude, I am alone. Then, too, if I ever see my 
loved ones, I must cross the Atlantic a second time 
and endure the terrible seasickness. But 

" Brought by His hands thus far, 
Why should I now give place to fear ? " 

And then he triumphs in God, as his hope and 
deliverer. 

His stay in London was rendered more pleasant by 
the companionship of Rev. Dr. Stephen Olin, who, 
like himself, was seeking health in that far-off land. 
The Methodist historic localities were also of great 
interest to him, and Fetter Lane and City Road 
Chapel were shrines where he often delighted to wor- 
ship. The palaces, museums, parks, and more notable 
places of the city were visited as he had strength, and 
his observations carefully and even extensively noted. 
His criticisms of architecture, sculpture, painting, 
music, orations, and other fine arts would seem to 



140 His Marriage and European Tour. 



indicate far wider opportunities than he had ever 
possessed for the study of these departments. He 
possessed a natural good taste which guided him in 
all these observations. 

He desired to visit France and try the effect upon 
his health of its more genial climate, and especially 
he desired to visit Paris and learn something of the 
advanced treatment there adopted of Tuberculous 
diseases. He therefore crossed the Channel, being 
confined in the cabin six hours by " horrible seasick- 
ness." Then he opened his eyes to bright, beautiful 
France and its wonderful pleasure-seeking popula- 
tion. He spent his time chiefly in Dover, Boulogne, 
Amiens, and Paris. He shuddered to find in Paris no 
Sabbath, and was glad to hunt out the little Wesleyan 
Chapel, that amid this moral desert he might feast his 
soul on spiritual things. He was particularly sick- 
ened by the universal prevalence of infidelity. He 
became exceedingly feeble during his stay in Paris, 
and feared he might perchance die in that infidel, 
Sabbathless land. He shrank more from dying amid 
such surroundings than he did from the dying itself, 
and cried to God to deliver him from laying his bones 
in such a godless land. 

He found nothing solid in France. The people 
seemed distinguished for volatility, so much so, that 
one might easily conceive as he saw the multitudes on 
the street that they were all on the way to the theater, 
ball, or circus. Travel in the country at the time was 



His Marriage and European Tour. 141 

by diligence, and gave him a fine opportunity to 
observe the country, its harvests, and its people. 
The better to do this, he usually sought an outside 
seat, and with the driver, if possible. His unacquaint- 
ance with the language led him into many difficulties, 
some of them amusing, and also subjected him to fre- 
quent imposition and wrong. He says : " While in 
Paris, my mind was much depressed, arising, I sup- 
pose, from my indisposition and surroundings, and 
Sabbath, the 20th (of Sept., 1838), was one of the 
darkest days of my life. Truly I was in the midst of 
deep waters. Death seemed near, and the solemni- 
ties of eternity were before me. But in my sorrow I 
had recourse to God in prayer. Monday, Tuesday, 
and Wednesday were also days of sorrow, and it 
appeared to me I was rapidly sinking under my 
disease. But I cried unto God. I acknowledged 
my errors, and covenanted anew to serve Him. But 
the ground of my plea is, after all, the atoning merits 
of Christ. . . . But to die in France, — to finish 
up in so distant a country, so destitute of religious 
friends, — and then to be laid among a people who 
regard me as a heretic, and who are hardly willing 
to grant me a grave, is calculated to afflict the mind 
of an invalid." 

He was naturally exceedingly anxious to return to 
England, and get home if possible to the United States, 
and he made the attempt. He reached Boulogne on 
the 23d of August, and against the advice of friends, 



142 His Marriage and European Tour. 

for the sea was rough, he embarked. In a few hours 
the wind subsided, and he had a delightful sail up the 
Thames to London, where he landed on the 25th. 

The Great Western steamship was up for pas- 
sage, but he soon learned all her berths were taken, 
and the next steamer, the Royal William, was adver- 
tised for September 20. The intervening twenty- 
seven days would be almost enough, if the voyage in 
a sailing vessel were a good one, to bring him home, 
and it would cost him $60 or $70 less. But, on the 
other hand, he could scarcely endure the thought of 
again crossing the sea in a sailing vessel now that 
steamers were upon the ocean. He was no better in 
health than when he left the United States. 

At this crisis, he writes as follows : " This journey 
thus far has laid me low in the dust before the Lord, 
and there I must lie, nay must be brought still lower, 
unless God lift me up, but let me not fall into the 
hands of man ; let me fall into the hands of God, let 
Him direct my ways, and do with me as seemeth best 
in His sight. The season of the year is uninviting to 
put to sea for America; the equinoctial is at hand, 
and the winds are directly ahead. But to stay is to 
be where I am, to put off is to be making an effort, 
and God, I trust, will bless the effort, and in due time 
I shall get home. But the prospect of being reduced 
so low as I must be is discouraging." 

Sunday, the 27th, he was confined wholly to his 
house, and all day long he was buffeted with the 



His Marriage and European Tour. 143 

severest temptations. For the most part, these were 
to the effect that all his suffering was a visitation from 
God upon him because he had not kept his covenant 
and entered the itinerant ministry. The words from 
Isaiah, " Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my com- 
mandment; then had thy peace been as a river, and 
thy righteousness as the waves of the sea," were con- 
stantly ringing in his ears. In vain he defended him- 
self by his physical incapacity for the work. He says, 
" Now that I stand upon the borders of the grave, 
my opinion is that my style of preaching must in- 
evitably have broken me down. I have to lament 
my injudiciousness in the use of my voice. It would 
have been more agreeable, if rightly used, and it may 
be I should have been spared some of my sufferings. 
But it is now past, and to all human appearance I am 
sinking fast into consumption. My throat and lungs 
are much diseased. I have little encouragement from 
physicians ; yet in God is my trust. I still hope for 
recovery. How natural ! But what is the ground 
of my hope ? Is it medicine, air, climate, sea voyage ? 
All these things are against me. In what, then, is 
my hope ? I answer : in God. First. In the favor- 
able disposition of God to His children, as learned 
from the general tenor of His Word." (Here he cites 
numerous instances where God delivered His people, 
even when they were by no means prompt or perfect 
in their obedience.) " Second. From the fact that 
the blessed Saviour healed all manner of sickness, 



144 His Marriage and European Tour. 

and is He not the same to-day ? Third. I am en- 
couraged because David prayed for the life of the 
child of Uriah's wife, saying, ' Who can tell whether 
God will not hear,' and Hezekiah prayed, and fifteen 
years were added to his life. Fourth. Because of the 
promises of Christ: He says, 'Whatsoever ye shall 
ask in my name, I will do it,' and I am encouraged 
by the words of St. James, ' Is any among you 
afflicted? let him pray,' etc., — ' and the prayer of 
faith shall save the sick.' 

"But why do I desire to live? Is it to proclaim 
the love of God to man, or is it because of my natural 
aversion to dying, or from the desire to enjoy life ? 
True, I desire to enjoy life, to enjoy the society of 
one I love, perhaps too fondly. Yet I do not con- 
ceive this is inconsistent with God's holy will. If I 
understand my heart, this desire has its chief founda- 
tion in a purpose to glorify God. This prompts me to 
pray, ' Lord, save me.' In this way I commit my 
cause to God, and must wait in the use of such means 
as He may direct. But according to all human proba- 
bility I must die, though faith says I shall yet live. 
My case is difficult to man, but not to God. Oh, 
Lord, into Thy hands I commit my cause." 

The very day he penned the above he decided to 
wait for the Royal William y and in the afternoon of 
the same day consulted Dr. Davids, a celebrated 
physician, but received no encouragement that he 
would recover. He writes: "This is now quite out 



His Marriage and European Tour. 145 

of the question, and my prospects darken. It will be 
nearly a month before I can leave England. But I 
must commit it all to the Lord." Left now entirely 
to himself in a great boarding-house, where he was 
altogether without acquaintances, he gave himself to 
the Lord in prayers and tears, and writes: "What 
should I do now without my Saviour ! Oh, if it were 
not for the Holy Spirit, the Comforter ! " And he 
recalled the Divine word, " When thou passeth 
through the waters I will be with thee, and through 
the floods, they shall not overflow thee." 

He applied two blisters on the evening of August 
30 to his own person, and records a lament that in 
a house full there was no one to minister to him in 
his feebleness, or show him those little attentions 
that seemed to be demanded by ordinary feelings of 
humanity. Before leaving London he was directed 
to Dr. Francis Ramadge, who gave him great en- 
couragement that he would regain his health. 

The last Sabbath he was in London he was too ill 
to attend public worship, except that he strolled into 
St. Paul's in. the afternoon, and then betook himself 
to the quarters of Rev. Dr. Stephen Olin, and found 
sweet intercourse with that great and good man, 
"whose interests," as he writes, "are identified with 
my own as it regards both country and religion." At 
seven o'clock Monday morning he started for Liver- 
pool, not arriving until eleven o'clock at night, "quite 
wearied out." On Tuesday morning he went to view 

J 9 



146 His Marriage and European Tour. 

the Royal William steamer, on which he was to 
embark next day for America. His hopes had been 
very high now that steam navigation had been 
adopted on the ocean, but he was much disappointed, 
and makes the following record: "She appears so 
small to me, and is very heavily laden. In the cabin 
we have between sixty and seventy passengers. Our 
berths are very inconvenient, there being no place to 
put our trunks and baggage. Her bulwarks, too, are 
so low — not much over three feet — that it would 
appear to me as though one would be in constant 
danger of being washed overboard. I am illy pre- 
pared for the voyage. Oh ! how I dread the sea- 
sickness. My heart is sore, and I am in reality a 
sick man. The seasickness and the cold weather I 
fear will injure me much, but I must give myself up 
into the hands of God and trust Him to guide me in 
this perilous voyage. His promise is, 'When thou 
passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and 
through the waves, they shall not overflow thee.' 
Lord, verify Thy promise, and be with me in this my 
approaching time of deep affliction. 

" Never will I remove 

Out of thy hands my cause ; 

But trust in thy redeeming blood, 

And hang upon thy cross ! " 

Wednesday evening, September 19, came, and the 
preparations for his departure all being completed, 



His Marriage and European Tour. 147 

we find him in his room with spirits sadly depressed. 
He thought of the friends in England whose very 
kind attentions and sympathy had so endeared them 
to him, and whom he was now to leave forever, such 
as Rev. John Hodgson and family, of Middlesboro', 
Thos. Walker, Esq., and lady, of Stockton, Mr. 
George Craddock and lady, and Mr. John Davis, 
of Darlington. He thought also of the sufferings 
and exposures of the voyage. But he rallied again 
under the inspiration of soon beholding his native 
land and the loved ones it contained. 

On the outgoing from the United States of Mr. 
Howe, steam navigation on the ocean, as we have 
seen, had not yet been fully inaugurated, though the 
steamship Sirius had sailed from Liverpool for Cork 
on the 27th of the preceding March (of the year 
1838), and on April 2 from Cork for New York; and 
the Great Western steamship had sailed from Bris- 
tol on her first voyage to New York on the 8th of 
April of the same year. The steamer Royal Will- 
iam had also now completed her first round voyage 
between Liverpool and New York. She left Liver- 
pool, with passengers only, on July 5, of the year 
1838, and had returned on the 18th of August. Her 
outward voyage was performed in nineteen days, and 
her homeward one in fourteen days. She was of but 
617 tons burthen, and her engine was but of 276 
horse-power. She was the first steamer to cross the 
Atlantic from Liverpool, though the Great Western, 



148 His Marriage and European Tour, 

as we have seen, had preceded her a little from the 
port of Bristol. This must not, however, be ac- 
cepted as the beginning of ocean steam- navigation, 
for Gore's " Directory for Liverpool," from which the 
above facts are obtained, informs us that the steam- 
ship Savannah was the first steamship that crossed 
the Atlantic. She entered Liverpool on the 20th of 
June, 1 8 19, after a voyage of twenty-six days. It 
must have been some comfort to think of returning 
home by steam, especially as the homeward trip of 
the steamer on which he had engaged his passage 
had been accomplished in two-thirds of the usual 
time taken by a sailing-vessel. But we would greatly 
overrate the relief expected if we should estimate the 
voyage in the light of present accommodations, when 
a voyage can be made within a single week, and in 
magnificent steamers of 10,000 tons burthen, and with 
engines of 11,000 or 12,000 horse-power. 

On the morning of the 20th of September, 1838, 
the Royal William put out from Liverpool, and on 
the 10th of October, she dropped anchor in New 
York. For the last twenty-four hours of the voyage 
they were without fuel, and on short allowance of 
water. But a strong and favorable wind began to 
blow just as their fuel failed them. This, by using 
their sails, expedited the rest of the voyage, which 
was afterwards occasion of very special gratitude to 
God, for they had no sooner made the harbor than 
the wind veered about and blew a hurricane directly 



His Marriage and European Tour. 149 

off the coast, which must have driven them far out to 
sea. The probability, indeed, is that they must have 
suffered shipwreck, for the storm was so violent that 
many houses in the city were unroofed, and much 
damage done to shipping in the harbor. His heart 
overflowed with gratitude to his Divine protector for 
the mercies of the voyage, and for the joy of behold- 
ing his dear friends. 

Very naturally many reflections concerning affairs 
in England filled his mind, that awakened by contrast 
the most ardent love of his own dear America. " All 
things considered, " he says, "I would never make a 
loyal subject of England. Give me my own happy 
America." Among the objectionable things, he 
names taxation, such as twopence a pound on hops ; 
the horse tax, for horse, saddles, and even servant, 
whether you keep one or not. On windows, if there 
be more than eight in the house ; on paper and 
foreign books — threepence per pound on their own 
paper, and eighteenpence on books ; the enormous 
charge for mailing. Taxes, indeed, he names on 
about every luxury. The tithe law was especially re- 
pugnant to his American notions, and the union of 
church and state, giving to the church worldly, if not 
wicked, ministers and a degenerate church. He also 
protests against the lack of universal suffrage, only 
those in towns paying a rental of ten pounds a year 
having a vote, and those in the country owning a 
place producing twenty pounds a year. He laments 



1 50 His Marriage and European Tour. 

the high price of provisions, and the low price of 
labor, the laborer getting but about twentypence a 
day. The expenses of the Government were enor- 
mous, and royalty and nobility pampered and hon- 
ored, while the poor are oppressed, and rank is 
everywhere preferred to real merit. This will suffi- 
ciently indicate the condition of England at that 
time as it appeared to the eye of this visiting 
stranger. His absence had but led him to love his 
own land the more. 

At No. 12 Second street, on the 31st of October, 
1838, at about eight o'clock in the evening, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Mason by the Rev. 
John C. Tackaberry, and in the following April they 
entered their own home, 209 Grand street. Mr. 
Howe's health was improving from causes that we 
have yet to chronicle. His business was promising, 
and prospects were bright. 

Two daughters were the result of this marriage, 
both born at 209 Grand street, namely, Frances 
Ramadge, born August 10, 1839, and now the wife 
of Rev. John A. Munroe, of Newark Conference, 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, honored for 
her fidelity to her home and her relation to the 
Church of God, and Mary Mason, born October 10, 
t 84 1) who expired on Saturday evening, November 
20, 1 84 1. The young wife and mother also de- 
parted this life at twenty minutes past two o'clock 
p. m., on Friday, the 15th day of October, 1841. 



His Marriage and European Tour. 151 

Her remains were interred with many tears, and 
they rest in Greenwood in hope of a joyful 
resurrection. 

Less than three years had our subject enjoyed the 
sweets of home and the loving society and attentions 
of a cultured, Christian companion. Shortly after- 
wards he embalmed her memory in a neat little vol- 
ume of nearly three hundred pages, dedicated to her 
surviving child, Frances Ramadge. This is yet ac- 
cessible to those who would read it, and obviates the 
necessity of giving here a more extended tribute to 
her worth. On the following Sabbath, October 24, 
the occasion was improved by a sermon preached by 
the Rev. P. P. Sandford, from Psalms xxxvii : 37, 
4 'Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for 
the end of that man is peace," to a large assemblage 
of friends and acquaintances. Hers were no ordinary 
attainments in literature, and she had acquired a 
robust, intelligent Christian faith. She gave herself 
fully to a variety of benevolent and pious activities. 
The Sunday-school, the prayer circle, the missionary 
society, the poor around her, all came in for a share 
of her attentions. Many yet live who have reason to 
call her blessed. Hers was an unassuming, amiable, 
beautiful character. Her death was sudden, and un- 
expected to herself and her friends ; but she died ex- 
claiming, "Now I see; yes, I do see, bless the Lord! 
I do see!" What did she see if it were not the 
King in his Beauty? 



152 His Marriage and European Tour. 

No subsequent changes ever extinguished this 
epoch of his life from the memory and heart of Mr. 
Howe. He always referred to it with the tenderest 
affection. The kinships created by this union lasted 
through all his life, and were recognized in the 
second generations. Mary's brothers and sisters con- 
tinued to be his unto the end. He was ever their 
elder brother, to whom all these kinsfolks and friends 
were made over as her precious legacy. In sub- 
sequent days and amid new relationships, all these 
were so fully adopted that they became those of 
every member of his family. Her memory was never 
extinguished, but became practically and beautifully 
embalmed with all the members of the household. 




VII. 

BECOMES A PHYSICIAN AND MARRIES AGAIN. 



ABOUT the time of taking his degree in medi- 
ii cine, Dr. Howe met, in one of the popular 
weeklies of the church, the following observation : 
" Many a man has missed being a great man by 
splitting himself into two middling ones. Concen- 
trate your energies in one direction if you would 
make a figure in the world." Upon which he com- 
ments as follows : " The above is so correct and so 
important that I subscribe to it here as being sound 
in every letter. I have become not only two mid- 
dling ones, but four yet smaller fractions of a great 
man. I have tried to be a dentist, a minister of the 
Gospel, a farmer, both agriculturist and horticulturist, 
and now I have become a physician. Had my 



20 



J 53 



1 54 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

talents all been directed to one point, with God's 
help, I should have become very successful, but 1 by 
the grace of God I am what I am,' and I desire to be 
thankful." 

He then states briefly how he was led in the 
providence of God to each of these, after the man- 
ner we have thus far outlined. "As to medicine," 
he says, " the door opened and I entered and re- 
ceived the degree of Medicines Doctor." 

It will be the province of this chapter to nar- 
rate this in greater particularity, as we gather it 
from scattered allusions in his copious manuscripts. 
Our narrative has revealed the fact that Dr. Howe 
was a life-long invalid, and being an intelligent and 
observing man, he was a life-long critic upon the 
medical treatment he received. He was constantly 
comparing his own case and its treatment with 
that of others, and informing himself by observation 
of the effect of remedies and of the diseases which 
certain symptoms indicated. Within a limited range 
he was a practical student of hygiene, materia medica, 
and therapeutics for many years before he attempted 
their formal study. In all parts of his manuscript 
books there are prescriptions, recipes, directions, 
comments on treatment, etc., etc. He was himself 
so great a sufferer that he became peculiarly sympa- 
thetic and was led on every hand to inquire into the 
ailments of others, and to suggest what he could for 
their relief. The advances of his own profession, 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 155 

dentistry, led him to studies of the nervous organism 
and its diseases, and to a knowledge of those rarer 
drugs that were beginning to be employed in the 
treatment of diseases by progressive practitioners in 
his own profession. He was of no school in medi- 
cine, had no professional prejudices or pride, but was 
simply a gleaner from books, observation, and con- 
sultation with men of all schools and thoughts. But 
it was not till after he had been to Europe and made 
his observations there and returned that the idea of 
a degree in medicine was suggested, and at no time 
did he intend really to practice medicine. He had a 
special reason for studying medicine and obtaining a 
degree. The story of his almost life-long feebleness 
has already been sketched, and the manner in which 
he was led to take his voyage to Europe. It may 
not be amiss for us to resume this line of our story 
in the words of Dr. Howe himself. He says : " My 
attention was first directed to the subject of con- 
sumption by my own declining health in 1837. A 
slight cough at first, then fever and chills daily, ac- 
companied with night sweats, and great prostration 
of strength, and loss of voice, and wasting of flesh, 
with cadaverousness of countenance, all bespoke that 
I was seriously ill. At this period, being connected 
with the New York City Hospital as the chaplain of 
the house, my daily walks led me to make observa- 
tions on patients somewhat similarly afflicted, over 
whose beds were written Phthisis Pulmonalis, or pul- 



156 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

monary consumption. Consumption was a horrible 
name to me ; and now that I began to fear that it 
was grasping me, no language can describe the 
acuteness of the agony of my mind. I strove to be 
cheerful and to throw off these feelings. I rose 
early, I walked, I rode ; I washed and rubbed, and 
took the best medical advice the city could afford, 
then went the rounds of all the popular medicines ; 
but still I was declining. As months rolled on I be- 
gan to expectorate, and my chest, which had for- 
merly measured thirty-three inches in circumference, 
had contracted to thirty inches, and how to account 
for it I knew not. Stripping myself, and observing 
my figure in the glass, I was horrified by my appear- 
ance. My chest was so drawn together, the clavi- 
cles or collar-bones were so prominent, with a deep 
sinking beneath them, and the whole frame was so 
distorted as to make me fearful to behold it with my 
own eyes. I took counsel of many physicians, but 
without relief. ' Surely,' said I, ' 1 am in a bad way ; 
there is no use in resisting the conviction longer ; I 
am in consumption.' My feelings at this period 
none may know but those similarly afflicted. My 
physicians, although they encouraged me, assured 
my friends that I must decline. The tubercular de- 
posits, however, they stated were confined to the 
upper lobes of the lungs. As I became sensible of 
my condition, and knew full well the inefficacy of 
the medicinal remedies in use among physicians for 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 157 

consumption, my only hope was in praying to God 
for help, and my prayer went up continually that He 
would interpose His strong arm and save me from 
dying of this disease. I felt that the simplest means 
with His blessing would avail. My medical friends 
having exhausted all their skill, as a last resort rec- 
ommended a sea voyage to Europe and travel. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 7th of June, 1838, having previously 
adjusted all my affairs, I sailed for Liverpool, in 
such a state of health as I would not wish a friend 
of mine to embark, and arrived there greatly pros- 
trated from seasickness. After resting a few days, 
I journeyed to the north, directing my course towards 
Edinburgh in Scotland, consulting the most promi- 
nent physicians in many places. A box of pills and 
a blister or a box of ointment was the usual pre- 
scription, for which a guinea was paid. Gaining no 
relief, I directed my course to the south. In Lon- 
don I was very unwell ; but my hopes were buoyant 
in regard to the climate of France, could I get there ; 
but these hopes, like others, were not to be realized. 
I arrived in Paris in the month of August, but 
found the winds cold and piercing, and the weather 
so variable for some days that I rather grew worse ; 
and as the fall of the year was approaching I came 
to the conclusion, after tarrying awhile, that I had 
better return home while I had strength to do so. 
In Paris I would have called in medical counsel, but 
felt that by so doing I might be subjected to pros- 



158 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

trating treatment and thus prevented from ever 
reaching my native land again. When I arrived in 
London, on my return, necessity compelled me to 
send for a doctor, who applied a blister and leeches 
to my chest. While thus lying on a bed in a dark 
chamber in a large hotel, pleading the promises of 
God, a gentleman entered my room and remarked, 
' I knew a clergyman in Manchester, who was in con- 
sumption, who obtained a book the title of which is 
" Consumption Curable," and, by following its direc- 
tions, he soon got well, and is now preaching.' These 
words were like electric sparks ; hope, which had 
almost deserted me, as to human instrumentalities, 
again revived. I obtained the book, and by it, and 
the advice of a lady, was induced to consult F. H. 
Ramadge, M. D., the author, who, at his first inter- 
view, said to the lady : ' He is very ill, but he has 
come just in time to save his life.' Upon examination 
of my chest, he remarked : ' You have tubercles in 
both lungs.' I then, in a whisper (for I could not 
speak above a whisper), put the following interrog- 
atories : ' Doctor, can I live, or must I die ? Be 
honest with me.' He replied: 'You will perfectly 
recover.' ' Shall I ever be able to speak aloud ? ' 
'O yes.' 'Shall I ever be able to sing?' 'Yes.' 
' Shall I, sir, ever be able to preach again ? ' ' Yes, 
I see nothing to hinder.' ' How long, sir, will it be 
before all this takes place?' ' In about four or six 
months you will be quite well, and you will attain a 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 1 59 

strength about the chest that you have not had for 
years.' ' Ah ! doctor,' said I, ' 1 am afraid to believe 
you.' He answered warmly, 'I would insure it by 
my right arm were it possible.' To this man, under 
God, I owe my life. He gave me instructions con- 
cerning what I should do and what I should avoid, 
by the observance of which I have been restored to 
good health as far as the chest is concerned, although 
I am occasionally dyspeptic. 

"The principal means he directed me to use was a 
tube, through which I was to breathe, for the pur- 
pose of expanding, airing, and exercising the lungs, 
by which exercise they would become enlarged, the 
sores be absorbed, and the surfaces brought in ap- 
position, and healed. This tube, with his instruc- 
tions, gave me relief at once; and from the day I 
got it I began gradually to improve in health, and 
now consider my chest quite well. After having 
tarried with Dr. R. as long as he wished, and it 
being the time that I purposed to return home, I 
was led to ask Dr. R. for advice as to climate, sup- 
posing, that. as I would arrive in New York (my 
native city) in the month of October, it would be 
death for me to think of passing the winter at home, 
and that I should have to go to the South. 'But,' 
said Dr. R., 'go home, and stay at home.' 'Then,' 
replied I, ' I shall have to shut myself in the house 
all winter.' 'By no means,' he replied, 'go out 
every day.' 'But,' said I, 'ours is a dreadful 



160 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

climate; it snows, and hails, and blows.' 'Well,' 
said he, 'choose the best time in the day and go 
out every day.' Thought I, it is death to follow the 
old beaten path, and it can be but to die if I do as 
directed ; and, considering the high character of Dr. 
Ramadge, I resolved implicitly to follow his direc- 
tions. The returning sea-voyage reduced me much, 
but I reached home in better health than could have 
been expected. Upon my arrival I began to speak 
of the remedy I had found, and feeling desirous to 
benefit others, I published a few letters in the New 
York Observer, Christian Intelligencer, and Christian 
Advocate, which were extensively copied into other 
papers. These letters brought many to see me, 
among whom were some of the most respectable 
physicians, who requested the privilege of seeing 
the tube and examining my chest : ' For,' said 
they, 'there is much that passes for consumption 
that is not.' I acquiesced; and the result of such 
examination is well expressed by Dr. Washington, 
who said, ' I have no more doubt of the tuberculated 
state of your lungs than if I could see them ' ; Dr. Cox 
said, 'The right lung is hepatized,' — that is, changed 
by disease so as to resemble liver in appearance ; and 
said another, ' Half of the right lung is gone.' I re- 
ceived many letters from various parts of the United 
States, to answer which consumed much of my time, 
and subjected me to some expense ; but being de- 
sirous to spread the information, I abridged Dr. 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 161 

Ramadge's work on consumption, and published one 
thousand copies, which I principally distributed gratu- 
itously, and nine months afterwards put his large 
work to press. Of this I have sold a number of 
copies. I have also kept the tubes on hand for sale, 
and instructed persons in the use of them ; and am 
now happy to state that many have been greatly ben- 
efited, and others restored to health. 

" It has, however, been objected by some physicians, 
who have no personal knowledge of me, that I could 
not have been fairly in consumption, or I could not 
possibly, by any means, have recovered. To this 
objection I will only reply, that distinguished phy- 
sicians pronounced my case to be tubercular phthisis, 
and further stated that it was impossible that I could 
live; that no means could save me ; and the symptoms 
were such as fully to corroborate their testimony. 
These were: slight soreness in the chest, which 
was increased particularly by the seasickness, and 
which spread itself throughout the lungs ; a hacking 
cough at times ; loss of voice, so as to be unable to 
converse much above a whisper, and then with the 
greatest exertion, accompanied by much hoarseness; 
night sweats, followed by great chilliness along the 
spine in the morning, and hectic fever in the after- 
noon ; wasting of flesh and sallowness of com- 
plexion; occasionally, expectoration of mucus, and 
some purulent matter; the whole attended with a 
growing contraction of the chest for several years. 



1 62 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

The fact was, I had long been declining; but for 
years the consumption of the lungs had been checked 
by chronic catarrh, and subsequently by bronchitis. 
By following Dr. Ramadge's directions all these 
symptoms have left me : my chest is astonishingly 
altered in shape and enlarged in size ; the sinking 
under the clavicles, or collar-bones, which was full 
an inch in depth, is now so filled up as to leave no 
indentation at all ; and my strength of lungs has re- 
turned to me to such a degree (though I am, and 
always will be, a slender man) that I have been able 
to perform, since my recovery, one year's service as 
chaplain in the New York Hospital, in visiting the 
sick, and preaching on the Sabbath ; and for several 
years past I have usually, Sabbath after Sabbath, 
preached once, and sometimes twice, in different 
churches. I consider my recovery as one among 
thousands, and attribute it entirely to my being 
providentially directed to Dr. Ramadge. 

" It is now over thirty-nine years since I was first 
made acquainted with this method of treating con- 
sumption, during which time I have had ample 
opportunity to test its efficacy in my own case, and 
in the case of a great number of persons ; and, as 
the result of this experience, I do not hesitate to say 
that I as much believe the practice herein recom- 
mended to be a remedy for pulmonary consumption, 
if it be employed when any human means can reach 
the case, as I believe the Gospel to be a remedy for 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 163 

sin and its consequences. From the first of my be- 
coming acquainted with it I was so convinced of its 
utility that one of the principal desires which led me 
to hope that my life might be prolonged was to see it 
extensively introduced ; and one of the chief sources 
of my pleasure now, growing out of past reminiscences, 
is that I have been the honored instrument in intro- 
ducing this remedy into my own country, and of 
seeing it adopted successfully by many reputable 
physicians in different parts of the United States. 
Many persons, too, through my instrumentality, have 
been restored to good health, who now cherish to- 
wards me feelings of gratitude similar to those I 
entertain for Dr. Ramadge; several of whom, had 
they not followed my advice, would long since, in 
all probability, have been numbered with the dead. 
Intelligent gentlemen throughout the United States 
are giving attention to this practice, among whom 
are several members of Congress, to whom I have 
forwarded the tube and the doctor's work on con- 
sumption; and I live in hopes that the time is not 
far distant when the prejudices of those who are 
opposed to giving this practice a fair and candid 
investigation may be removed and that facts may 
be permitted to speak for themselves." 

Believing, as he did, that the treatment of Dr. Ram- 
adge had saved himself from the grave, and that it was 
the only effectual way known of treating pulmonary 
disease, and that it would act both as a preventive 



164 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

and cure, every impulse of his heart led him to desire 
that the treatment should be understood and adopted 
in America. He therefore at once issued an edition 
of " Consumption Curable, by Francis Hopkins Ram- 
adge, M. D.," etc., with an introduction by himself, 
containing a history of his own case. He also had 
manufactured a stock of tubes, and fully advertised 
them, and afterwards improved them by a little Yankee 
skill and ingenuity. The result of the treatment was 
a perpetual joy and encouragement to him. Espe- 
cially did he feel as if he were doing the will of his 
Heavenly Father by urging upon ministers inclined 
to bronchial trouble or pulmonary disease the use of 
the tube. As remarkable cases of cure presented 
themselves, especially in the cases of prominent indi- 
viduals, he gave an account of them to the world. His 
own case, after months, he puts as follows : 

" It is now a year since I first came under Dr. R.'s 
care, and I have realized the benefit of his advice, 
and the fulfillment of his predictions. My voice has 
returned, so that I can sing for a short time at its 
highest pitch, and speak aloud in public for half an 
hour without injury. My digestion is better than it 
has been for years, so that I am enabled to eat what- 
ever is set before me, with the exception of hot breads, 
etc. But what is of still greater importance, the shape 
of my chest is very astonishingly improved and 
enlarged. About six years since, the measurement 
of my chest, close under the arms, was thirty-two 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 165 



inches ; but, for five years following, there was a 
gradual diminution, so that for three years previous 
to my getting the tube my measurement was thirty 
inches ; making a decrease in the size of two inches. 
Since getting the tube I have increased in size two 
and a half inches, making my measurement now 
thirty-two and a half inches. But the alteration in 
the conformation of my chest is truly wonderful. The 
collar-bones were very prominent, and the pit of the 
neck so sunken and the chest so drawn together that 
I was afraid to see myself in the glass. Now, my 
chest has recovered a rounder and plumper appear- 
ance, and my neck has filled out, so that the conforma- 
tion is better than it has been for years, and my 
whole system is generally improved — the principal 
cause of which I attribute to following the instruc- 
tions received from Dr. R. 

"I would also remark, that, previous to my getting 
the tube, every change of weather, even the slightest, 
affected me much, notwithstanding the extra clothing 
put on, and care as to exposure ; but since using the 
tube I have taken off all extra clothing, without 
even wearing flannels except in the winter ; exposing 
myself to all weathers every day through the whole 
of the last winter, and up to the present time (storms 
not excepted), without once taking cold in my lungs. 
So great has been the benefit received, that I am en- 
couraged to expect a much greater strength of lungs 
than I have had for years, and perfect recovery." 



1 66 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 



It would not be expected that one like Mr. Howe, 
engaged in such a business as this, would fail to inform 
himself by books, periodicals, lectures, conversations, 
etc., on anatomy, physiology, and therapeutics gener- 
ally, but especially as far as these might bear on this 
one disease. This he did with all conscientious 
fidelity, aided by some chosen friends of the medical 
profession. By the advice of these friends, and under 
all the influences here suggested, he was led to under- 
take the study of medicine, not altogether without 
a realization that to be a doctor of medicine would 
give weight to his advice to consumptives, and make 
way for the tube. Therefore, in accordance with 
the existing laws of New York, he entered his 
name on the 2d day of August, 1841, in the office 
of John L. Sullivan, M. D., with the declared object 
of prosecuting medical studies, with a view to practice 
medicine. 

His intimate friend, and brother in the local minis- 
try, Dr. David Meredith Reese, was a professor and 
lecturer in the Castleton Medical College at Castle- 
ton, Vt, and it was arranged that Mr. Howe should 
go to Castleton and fulfill the requirements, pass the 
examination, and obtain the degree, Medicines Doctor. 
On the 7th day of August, 1842, Dr. Reese and him- 
self started together from the city of New York. The 
next day was Sabbath, and they stopped over at Troy. 
Here they listened to a discourse by Rev. Noah 
Levings, at the " lower church." This eloquent 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 167 

divine afterwards obtained a national reputation as 
Secretary of the American Bible Society. The whole 
service was a signal blessing to the afflicted soul of 
Mr. Howe. His heart was tender with grief, and the 
very first words of the first hymn read, brought tears 
to his eyes: 

God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform. 

The memory of his beloved and now sainted 6 ' Mary," 
whose early years were spent in Troy, her father in 
her childhood being the pastor of this church, came 
vividly to his mind. In that very house she had wor- 
shiped God and repeatedly paid her vows to the 
Most High at its altars. Then, the text was like the 
voice of God to his wounded heart. It was Isaiah 
50 : 10, " What man is there among you that feareth 
the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant, and 
walketh in darkness and hath no light ? let him trust 
in the Lord, and stay himself upon his God." " It 
was an impressive discourse," Mr. Howe says; "the 
whole service suited my state of mind, and the thought 
struck me, that it might be to listen to this discourse 
that I was led to Troy. My spirits were very sor- 
rowful. I endeavored to say, ' The Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the 
Lord.' The preacher said nothing about widowers, 
but my heart is witness that a widower's heart can 
bleed. Sometimes I think my affections are buried 



1 68 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

with my beloved Mary, and I might as well be lying 
by her side ; but after all the Lord ' doeth all things 
well.' In Him I do trust. Till I die, I will not re- 
move my integrity." Thus he penciled his reflections, 
after having preserved in his memorandum book 
quite a full sketch of the sermon, with some discrim- 
inating criticisms upon its style and delivery. 

In the afternoon he attended the " upper church," 
and sadness again almost overwhelmed his impression- 
able nature as he partook of the Holy Communion. 
The associations were too much for him. Moreover, 
his chest was sore, and as he says, " points me con- 
stantly to the dust." In fact, he had been the more 
easily influenced to take this journey, " hoping the 
change of air might revive this drooping frame." 

The next day he started for Saratoga. Here he 
found a Christian hotel kept by Rev. John D. 
Moriarty, and enjoyed much the family prayer and 
singing, the reading of the Scriptures, etc. He also 
tried to be useful to a young lady from the District 
of Columbia, far beyond all possibility of recovery 
with consumption, and to comfort her parents. But 
sad memories were still busy. He writes: "This 
day my beloved little Frances is three years old/ 
and the record of his mingled joys and griefs is al- 
most impassioned. But not forgetting the text of Dr. 
Levings, he tried as best he could to " trust in the 
Lord, and stay his heart upon God." As he sought 
his daily exercise, looking up to the mighty hills that 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again, 169 

God had made, to the beauties that crowned them, 
and to the pavilion of blue and brightness over his 
head, he felt assured that God must be good. A ride 
over rough roads in company with Dr. Reese at 
length brought him to Castleton. 

" August 10, 1842," he records, "this day, notwith- 
standing my feebleness, I entered my name in the 
medical college as a student. It seems to be my 
duty to do it, and my mind is led to it, but I leave it 
all with the Lord. My conscience and judgment ap- 
prove of it." That very day we find him listening to 
three lectures, one by Prof. McClintock on anatomy, 
another by Prof. Carr on chemical affinities, and a 
third by Prof. Reese which was his introductory to 
the "Theory and Practice of Medicine." Seven 
weeks were spent in devotion to his duties as a stu- 
dent amid very great feebleness and perpetual rem- 
iniscences of his bereavements. Occasionally invited 
by the Methodist clergymen of the place, he would 
share with them some religious service, and these are 
often subjects of interesting notation. He occasion- 
ally preached or taught Bible class. One day he rode 
out to Poultney, and was greatly delighted to see the 
place, the Troy Conference Academy, its principal, 
Rev. Jesse T. Peck, but especially Matthias Ludlam, 
a young man and personal friend, who was fearfully 
mangled in the engine room of the Methodist Book 
Concern, 200 Mulberry street, and was under his 
care as chaplain in the hospital for a long time, but 



1 70 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

who was now here preparing for the holy ministry, 
to which God had led him through what seemed at 
first an unspeakable calamity. 

Let this suffice to give an idea of his life at Castle- 
ton, which was continued from time to time till he had 
met the requirements of the institution, and at the 
commencement in 1844 received his diploma as a doc- 
tor of medicine. This, however, he did not regard 
as one of the professions of life, but the degree was 
sought as an incidental matter and to help and further 
other great projects that he had on hand. 

The following extract from his last will and testa- 
ment shows how consuming his convictions were on 
this important subject. He says: "As my life was 
preserved when in tubercular phthisis or pulmonary 
consumption, in 1838, by the most simple of all in- 
strumentalities, the inhalation of common air; and 
having in my own practice, covering a period of more 
than forty-three years, many of them while living in 
the city of New York, seen the most marvelous recov- 
eries from lung diseases in their incipient stages, and 
in preventing pneumonia by this instrumentality, I 
feel that I owe a debt of gratitude to God and to 
humanity. Hence, I call special attention to the fol- 
lowing works scarcely known in this country: 

" The translation and publication of Laennec's work 
on mediate auscultation and on diseases of the lungs 
and heart, by R. T. H. Laennec, Professor of the 
College of France, and to the Faculty of Medicine in 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 171 

Paris, etc., etc., and of M. Andral, Professor of the 
Faculty of Medicine of Paris, etc., etc., with practical 
notes condensed from the lectures of F. H. Ramadge, 
M. D., Oxon (London, 1846), Fellow of the Royal 
College of Physicians, Senior Physician to the Infirm- 
ary for Asthma, Consumption, and other diseases of 
the lungs, etc., etc., with plates, 1846; also to Dr. 
Ramadge's work on asthma and consumption (Lon- 
don, England, 1834). Also to ' Consumption Curable,' 
a pamphlet by John M. Howe, M. D., New York, 
giving an account of several cases in which this prac- 
tice has been beneficial in this country ; to which 
might be added hundreds of others with corroborative 
testimony. The subject of correct breathing is of the 
first importance. It is a fact that one can fall into a 
habit of sighing or expelling the air from the lungs 
by every breath, the evils of which are to reverse the 
workings of all the organs of the system, producing 
indigestion, constipation, brain and nervous diseases, 
melancholy, hysterics, insanity, etc. A cheerful mind 
produces full and deep inspirations. 

"It is not. medicine so much that we need as fresh 
air taken into the system, and exercise taken, with 
the observance of the laws of health. The useful 
results of inhaling the air through the tube are 
to enlarge the circumference of the chest from five to 
ten or more inches, to increase the flesh from five to 
ten or twelve pounds in a few months, so that one's 
clothing has to be enlarged, and to strengthen and 



172 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 



enlarge the compass of the voice. To the objection, 
that the nostrils are the normal avenues of breathing, 
the reply is, that in tubercular phthisis of the lungs 
the equilibrium of inspiration and expiration is dis- 
turbed, the tendency being to expel the air from the 
lungs rather than to take it in ; now, the tube is 
useful as restoring the depth of the inspiration, thus 
recovering the breathing power. I feel that I have 
no legacy to leave humanity of a tithe of the value 
of the information which I have embodied in this 
pamphlet, ' Consumption Curable,' and in my circu- 
lar and directions for the use of the inhaling tube. 

" In the good time coming I feel sure that the fore- 
going thoughts will be appreciated, and when they 
are, much of the mist and fog in which the treatment 
of pulmonary consumption is now involved will be 
expelled. God hasten the time." 

About this time another important change occurred 
in the history of Dr. Howe, occasioned by his mar- 
riage with Miss Ann W. Morgan, the youngest 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Chambers Morgan, 
who had immigrated to Philadelphia from Water- 
ford, Ireland, in 1808. She was the youngest 
of six children, and was born in Philadelphia, 
March 18, 181 5. Her father was a hatter by trade 
and had been for many years a Wesleyan local 
preacher. He removed with his family to New York 
City in 18 12, and united with the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, with which he retained his connection till 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 1 73 

his death in 1829, at the age of sixty years. Quite a 
number of letters on the subject of religion are still 
extant which were addressed by him to Mary W. 
Morgan, afterwards the wife of Rev. Thomas Mason. 
These letters were to encourage her to steadfastness 
amid the persecutions she was suffering from her 
parents and others, because of her determination to 
serve God and become a Methodist. Her parents 
had become disciples of Thomas Paine. A few of 
these letters are published in Mrs. Mason's Memoir. 

This, under the circumstances, was the most nat- 
ural marriage that could possibly be formed by Dr. 
Howe, for she was a lady every way worthy of his 
heart and hand, and was already within the circle of 
his intimate associations, Mrs. Mary W. Mason, the 
mother of Dr. Howe's former wife, being the niece 
of Mr. John Morgan, the father of Ann W., of whom 
we are now speaking. The lady herself was possessed 
of rare womanly characteristics. She was of dig- 
nified, yet winning presence, noble and unselfish in 
character, and of a very cheerful and happy disposi- 
tion. Her intellectual attainments were considerable, 
and she conducted for years a young ladies' seminary 
of high order in her own home on the corner of 
Market street and East Broadway. Aptitude to 
control, interest, and instruct children was prominent 
in her character. She had charge of her moth- 
erless nephew, Payson, son of Rev. Professor John 
Morgan, of Oberlin Institute, Ohio, from infancy till 



1 74 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

his death, at six years of age, and of William Trus- 
low Morgan, son of her brother William, to whom 
she was as a mother till her marriage with Dr. Howe. 

Moreover, this marriage would bring him into 
more intimate association with a wider circle, ex- 
ceedingly congenial to him. Three of the sisters of 
Ann had married well-known and prominent mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mary be- 
came the wife of Eliphalet Wheeler, of New York 
City; Susan, the wife of Henry Holden, of Newark, 
N. J. ; and Isabella, the wife of Samuel Stebbins, of 
Danbury, Connecticut — all eminent in the Methodist 
Church. Of the brothers, William was engaged in 
business in Brooklyn, L. L, where he had a long and 
honorable career as a man of business and a par- 
ticipant in every noble enterprise, and John, after 
graduating at Williams College, became an ordained 
minister and teacher, and rose to great distinction as 
professor at Oberlin, and eventually became the head 
of the theological department of the college. But the 
lady herself came still nearer to his heart when, on 
the first day of January, 1843, sne united with the 
Forsyth Street M. E. Church. Rev. Heman Bangs, 
the pastor, prizing her exceedingly, remarked that 
" she was a New Year's gift from the Lord." 

The nuptial ceremony that made this noble woman 
the consort of Dr. Howe was performed by Rev. 
Heman Bangs, about eight o'clock on the evening of the 
14th of September, 1843, at tne house of Eliphalet 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 1 75 

Wheeler, Esq., Broome street, just east of the Bow- 
ery. Thus, after two years, his desolated home was 
reconstructed at 209 (227) Grand street. His be- 
loved daughter, who had been affectionately cared 
for at No. 12 Second street by her grandmother, 
Mrs. Thomas Mason, returned to the house of her 
birth and fell under the care of this new mother. 
It was a happy home, indeed. Business was 
never so prosperous. Dr. Howe's influence in the 
church and community was never so great. Though 
still feeble, he was comparatively comfortable in 
health. 

On the 19th of October, 1844, Mrs. Howe gave 
birth to a son, who received the name of John Mor- 
gan, was baptized in the same house by Rev. Heman 
Bangs on May 23, 1845, and who has lived to this 
present time, and is pursuing the business of a den- 
tist in the city of New York, having a first rank in 
his profession. He was married to Miss Emma, 
daughter of David Roe, Esq., of Paterson, on the 
17th of October, i86(f by Rev. J. P. Strong. 

Mrs. Howe had but just tasted the joys and hopes 
of a mother when she looked up into the face of her 
husband and said: "John, I am going; kiss me fare- 
well ; good-bye " ; and then calmly closed her eyes 
in death, only twenty minutes from the birth of her 
child. Another crushing blow had fallen upon the 
head and heart of this feeble man, feeble in body and 
of an exceedingly loving and sensitive nature, but, as 



1 76 Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 

has everywhere appeared, strong in mind and of 
unfailing faith in his Heavenly Father. 

The Lord provided now for these two children. 
The nurse, an old servant of Mrs. Howe's before her 
marriage, took charge of the house. Her love and 
devotion to the mother led her to take special over- 
sight of her helpless babe. Thus, a sorrowful home- 
life, but well ordered, was continued, and the infant 
boy received his first experiences of life under the 
supervision of a stranger, and little Fannie was 
trained by the same faithful woman. During the 
present condition of the household it also occurred 
that Mr. Eliphalet Wheeler and wife, making a 
change in their own house, were led to become for 
a time a part of this family, and thus a sister of the 
deceased mother could aid in the care of the infant 
boy. This state of things continued for several 
months and until Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler obtained 
their new home in Orchard street near Grand, 
where they so long resided. The health of the chil- 
dren was graciously preserved, and their young lives 
unfolded quite satisfactorily. 

Throughout this dark period of Mr. Howe's wid- 
owerhood there appears to be an almost complete 
suspension of the records of passing events and feel- 
ings that he for most of his life was so accustomed 
to make. Or, it may be they have been lost or de- 
stroyed. It is most likely that crushed by this awful 
blow, he was greatly enfeebled in body and almost 



Becomes a Physician and Marries Again. 177 

incapable of writing. His spare moments were 
doubtless occupied with household cares, or, per- 
chance, with caressing and sporting with his precious 
babes, Fanny and John — all that was left him of the 
two bright spots in his rather somber history. He 
managed, however, to care for his business, and its 
demands were sufficiently engrossing to preoccupy 
throughout the day his time and thoughts. Kind 
friends on every hand administered to his relief 
and comfort. Time gently alleviated his woes and 
accustomed him to his desolations. He manifestly 
resorted with more than ordinary zeal to numerous 
Christian activities, and had doubtless learned to 
hide himself from his burning griefs beneath the 
shadow of the great Rock. But of this we cannot 
give you, as usual, our testimony in his own words. 




2 3 



VIII. 



CONTINUED ACTIVITIES— THIRD MARRIAGE AND 
RURAL HOME. 

THE very rapid growth of the city of New York 
early attracted the attention of Christian men, 
who felt the consequent need of multiplying sanctu- 
aries for the advancing city. The more thoughtful 
of the Methodist denomination in addition to this 
realized a need on the same line not less urgent 
through the older sections of the city. With two 
exceptions, the Methodist churches had free seats, 
and in almost every case were excessively crowded. 
Indeed, the crowded state of these churches had led 
to the erection of the pewed "Wesleyan chapels" in 
Vestry and Mulberry streets, where wives could be 
seated with their husbands and children with their 

i 7 8 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 179 

parents. The churches on Allen street, Willett 
street, Forsyth street, and Bedford street were 
thronged in every part — main floor, galleries, and on 
a Sabbath evening usually the aisles also. Among 
the laymen of these churches, moreover, were men 
of wonderful endowments for prayer, exhortation, 
and sacred song; so numerous, too, that they were 
in each others way. There was such satisfaction in 
the almost perpetual revival services and such a 
personal bond between these brethren who worked 
together that they would not volunteer to go out to 
press the battle in new fields. Under these circum- 
stances, the pastors in their meeting took steps for 
city church extension, the most important of which 
was the organization of the " Asbury Society." This 
took place in 1842, and the pastors associated with 
themselves the General Conference's officers in the 
city and the most prominent laymen of the several 
congregations. Among these none became more 
actively interested than Dr. Howe. Daniel Barker 
was elected president of the society and John M. 
Howe treasurer, and Dr. Howe served in his office 
perhaps during the entire history of the society. 

But other providential circumstances linked him 
closely with the practical workings of the society. 
Rev. Ezra Withey, a preacher from New England, 
appeared at his office seeking his professional help. 
Mr. Withey's throat and lungs were seriously af- 
fected and he had lost his voice. Dr. Howe pre- 



180 Continued Activities. 

scribed his tube and gave his usual directions for 
general health. Mr. Withey after a time took a 
journey southward, by easy stages, in his own con- 
veyance, and had so far recovered his voice that in 
Virginia he undertook evangelistic services that in a 
few weeks resulted in the conversion of one hundred 
souls. Dr. Howe was so impressed with Mr. Witn- 
ey's success in Virginia that he proposed that the 
Asbury Society should employ him, and in case they 
did, the doctor promised to give him six months' 
gratuitous board. Mr. Withey was employed, and 
was an inmate of Dr. Howe's family for eighteen 
months, and he originated the Norfolk Street and 
the Jane Street Churches, the only ones organized 
under the Asbury Society. Columbia Hall, in Grand 
street near Eldridge, was rented, and was soon 
filled with people, and many souls were converted. 
Lots were then bought in Norfolk street, and a church 
and parsonage built, the corner-stone of which was 
laid on May 16, 1843. When the house was finished 
the work was opened there by a sermon preached 
by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Olin. At the close of his 
term, Mr. Withey handed it over to his successor 
with 575 members. 

Mr. Withey then undertook, under the Asbury So- 
ciety, to form a church and congregation north of 
Bedford street, between it and Eighteenth Street 
Church. A tenement could not easily be found but, 
at last the old Merchants' Bank building, on the 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 181 

corner of Jane and Fourth streets, was rented. It 
had the unsavory reputation of being haunted, and 
was in every respect uninviting. But he began his 
labors there. He soon got a better hall, but it was 
lower down, and the officers of Bedford street ob- 
jected to its proximity to their church. Mr. Withey 
consequently abandoned this and betook himself to 
the "Pipe Lot," as it was called, a vacant piece of 
ground between Greenwich Lane and Seventh Ave- 
nue, on which the city stored its water-pipes, and on 
which now stand public buildings. Here he preached 
at five o'clock on Sunday afternoons till the cold 
drove them back to the parlors of the Bank house. 
Very soon the Kentucky Hall was hired, and a pro- 
pitious opening made in it and work successfully 
prosecuted till the present property was purchased 
and the basement of the now standing church opened 
by Bishop Janes. Mr. Withey left at this charge four 
hundred members and a large and vigorous Sunday- 
school. In all the collecting and disbursing of 
funds, superintending the building, and even in the 
more spiritual work, Dr. Howe took an abundant 
share. 

Dr. Howe was also for fifteen years trustee of 
Greene Street Church, and treasurer of the board. 
For years he led two classes in the church. His 
visits to the sick and poor, and his attendance at 
funerals, were unremitting. It will be evident, from 
our narrative, how abundant were his labors in the 



182 



Continued Activities. 



pulpit, and how ceaselessly he was employed in 
every form of private benevolence. 

To some of us who were looking on, the claims 
upon his time from multifarious sources seemed 
almost overwhelming, but his quiet, unhurrying 
methods, and especially a natural disposition to 
make sport of his own perplexities and numerous 
duties, was a marked feature of his character. Once 
at a later period than this, in the midst of such a time 
of pressure, he opens a letter to one of his sons 
after this free and easy style: 

"Old Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Bond, then editor 
of 'The Christian Advocate,' said to me years ago 
one day : ' I have so many things to do, I believe I 
won't do anything.' Rev. Mr. Smith, a Catholic 
priest, said years ago when I called upon him, being 
so pressed with business, three or four persons in 
haste to see him, exclaimed : 1 Let me alone ; give 
me time to swallow my spittle.' On a tombstone it 
is written : 

" Reader, I have left a world 

In which I had a world to do ; 
Fretting and sweating to get rich, 
Just such a fool as you. 

" I would just add that, at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary War, my father was a young officer in the 
army and lived in New York. On one occasion he 
fell in love with a lady and proposed. He soon found 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 183 

out that she was a hater of tobacco. So, one day pass- 
ing in front of the North Dutch Church, on William, 
Ann, and Fulton streets, he stopped, and on the 
stone steps put out the chew and promised that he 
would chew no more. He subsequently learned 
that the lady declined his offer, and instead of kill- 
ing himself, as is the habit now, he put his hand in 
his pocket to find a chew, and after fumbling about 
without finding it he went back to the same old 
church door-step, and said it all back, and took a 
chew as he was wont to do. He was very neat in 
his habits, and never took a larger piece than a pea. 
I never knew him to spit in the house ; all the fore- 
going by way of introduction." 

Such was his method in times of great pressure, 
and it enabled him, though feeble, to accomplish so 
much. 

The following record, made at eight o'clock on Sab- 
bath morning, May 20, 1843, perhaps gives us as 
good a glimpse as we can get of this period of the 
doctor's life: 

" From a multiplicity of claims on my time I have 
omitted to make any entries in my book; but the 
recording angel, true to his duties, has recorded all 
the good, and all the evil too that I have been 
guilty of, and but for the atoning and all-cleansing 
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, oh, where should I 
appear ? Alas ! alas ! I do mourn before the Lord 
that I have not been more exemplary in everything. 



Continued Activities. 



Through the past months I have been very much 
engaged with my duties as trustee of the Greene 
Street M. E. Church, and especially with duties aris- 
ing out of my relation as trustee of the Asbury M. 
E. Church now building; writing a memoir of my 
beloved Mary ; preaching from Sabbath to Sabbath ; 
meeting my class, etc. Business and domestic affairs 
have all pressed upon me, and I praise the Lord that 
through all this multiplicity of duties I have been 
sustained. In addition to these things, I have been 
honored with a seat in the Missionary Board, and 
also with a membership in the Asbury Society, and 
yesterday the New York Conference elected me to 
elders orders, and this morning I am to be ordained 
an elder in the Church of God. How wonderfully 
the Lord has led me ! Several years ago I felt it 
deeply impressed upon my mind that the Great 
Master commissioned me to preach the Gospel in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church as a traveling preacher. 
I felt then that an insupportable burden was imposed 
upon me ; I had always thought the Methodist peo- 
ple to be the filth and scum of society, and I said I 
will die before I will preach among the Methodists. 
I was brought low with great debility ; still I felt 
my restoration to health again depended upon my 
consenting to preach the Gospel among the Meth- 
odists. My pride was wounded. The Methodists, I 
had been taught to believe, were a mean, low people, 
and I knew that I was ignorant and unskilled ; be- 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 185 

sides, I was the most bashful of all young men whom 
I ever knew ; I could not enter a room without 
blushing, and I thought that I had no qualifications 
intellectually for so high a calling. A consciousness 
of my ignorance, and of the requirements of God, 
made me feel wretched. I fought against these 
convictions for several months. Oh, for a sinking 
into God ; oh, that my faith may stand in the power 
of God; well, if I may but at the last find my 
long-sought rest — rest in Christ, in Heaven — 
this is all. Praise God. He is good and His mercy 
endureth forever. Amen. O God, Thou art a sea 
of love; let me plunge in. O God, Thou art a 
strong rock, upon which my soul may stand amid 
the peltings of time. O God, Thou art a strong 
tower, into which my soul may flee and be secure. 
Of late I have been tempted to distrust the Lord, 
but I will not distrust Him — no, God is good." 

Another of his humorous views of this kind of 
busy life we give our readers, though it was written 
at a later period than that under present notice. 
It is as follows: 

" This is the first of my writing since my fall. It 
was of the Lord's mercies that I was not instantly 
killed. I must have lost my foothold more than 
half-way up the flight of stairs, and pitched head 
first to the bottom and struck the left side of the 
head, the force of the blow coming on the cheek- 
bone. So sudden was the descent as to leave me no 
24 



i86 



Continued A ctivities. 



second to think to put out my hands to prevent the 
force of the blow. I went like a helpless log; my 
hands were not in use. The force of the blow was 
felt by the general shock to the whole trunk ; the 
upper part of the thorax felt it most severely ; if the 
bones had not been well jointed and secured by car- 
tilages and ligatures, good and strong, the whole 
frame must have been driven apart. My mouth has 
been severely bruised by my teeth and the left side 
of my face bruised ; but Pond's Extract has caused a 
subsidence of the inflammation. The shock to my 
chest has left my chest very lame and painful. But 
how I could have made such a plunge and have 
fetched up full force against the casings of the library 
door with my head and have been hurt so little is a 
wonder of wonders. The number of times that I 
have been saved from being maimed and from deaths 
by falling, by being pushed out of a hay-loft, and 
coming down on round cobble-stones, by runaway 
horses, by being hurt by horses in various ways, by 
being twice pulled out of the water when nearly 
drowned — once, when a very little child, by falling 
head first into a tub of water; the second time off 
the dock in Newburgh, when about seven years old, 
in water very deep, being pulled out of the water by 
my hair when going down the third time, a negro 
boy hallooing out, 'A boy fell in; a boy fell in," 
caused a man to pull me out ; and in addition, too, 
the several sieges of sickness encountered — dyspep- 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 187 

sia, pulmonary consumption, brain, nervous diseases, 
etc. How wonderfully God has watched over me. 
The following verse is applicable to my case : 

" In all my ways thy hand I own, 
Thy ruling Providence I see ; 
Assist me still my course to run, 
And still direct my steps to thee. 

" I send you and Ed. a Passaic paper, with some 
remarks by me on Mr. Paulison's funeral. My face 
is bruised, but when I resume my good looks, as I 
hope to after some days, I hope to see you and 
Louise either in your home, or in our home here. 
Sue will tell you all the rest." He adds as a P. S. : 

" I make no allusion to the times when I have 
been greatly exhausted by being talked at too long, 
and there have been several such instances." 

Two years of widowerhood had now passed. Little 
Fannie was nearly seven years old and John was 
passing along in his second year ; both were needing 
a mother's training hand and loving heart, to say 
nothing of the want so apparent of a head to this 
home, and its domestic affairs generally. Within 
the circle of his friends was a young lady, Emeline 
Barnard Jenkins, a native of the city of Hudson, 
born April 16, 1821, whose many excellent qualities 
attracted his attention and indicated her adaptation 
to be his wife, and a mother to his children. She 



i88 



Con tin ued A ctiv ities. 



had been thrown into the circle of the Greene 
Street Church through intimacy with the family of 
her pastor, Rev. Seymour Landon, whose son, Dillon 
Stevens (afterwards Dr.), was one of the most promi- 
nent of the young people of the Greene Street Church. 
After carefully and prayerfully considering the ques- 
tion, Dr. Howe declared to Miss Jenkins his admira- 
tion of her character and qualities, and his desire for 
greater intimacy with a view to marriage. 

The ancestors of Miss Jenkins were among the 
early settlers of the Island of Nantucket, when the 
first white settlers arrived about 1659. They all be- 
longed to the " Society of Friends," and were sailors. 
Most of them were driven thither by the persecutions 
of the Quakers at that time, but by their enterprise, 
persistence, and thrift, sailed their ships over the then 
unknown seas, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, re- 
covered their lost fortunes, accumulated wealth, to 
lose much of it again in the struggle for Independ- 
ence, and took the honorable position history has ac- 
corded them. Shortly before the Revolutionary War, 
for the purpose of facilitating their trade and barter 
with the Indians, a colony was formed in Nantucket, 
and settled on the banks of the Hudson River at 
Hudson, Columbia Co., N. Y. (among its members 
were both the Jenkins and Barnard families), to 
which point a considerable part of the Nantucket 
shipping interests were transferred, so that it became 
one of the chief ports of entry in all the colonies, and 



JENKINS COAT OF ARMS. 



Sir Richard Jenkins, of Bicton Hall, Co. Salop, eldest son and 
heir of Richard Jenkins, Esqr., of Bicton, and great-grandson 
of Thomas Jenkins, Esqr., of the Abbey Foregate, Co. Salop. 




Or, a lion rampant, reguardant Sa, quartering Bagot and 
Muckleston Crest, on a mural crown proper a lion passant 
reguardant. Or. 

Motto : Perge Sed Caute. 



Third Marriage and Rural Home. 189 



here to this day we find repeated many of the old 
Nantucket family names. Their family records and 
local histories are full of interest, and are accessible 
to any one who may be interested in these researches. 

We give the coat of arms of the Jenkins families 
of Becton Hall, and of Chatton Hall, Shropshire, 
England, — on the border of Wales, — both descend- 
ants of Richard Jenkins, Blandford, Dorsetshire, to 
which family Peter Jenkins belonged. 

Peter Jenkins came to this country in 1620 and 
died in 1675. 

Matthew Jenkins, his son, married Mary Gardner, 
June 1, 1706. 

Thomas Jenkins (son of Matthew) married Judith 
Folger, July 22, 1728. 

Charles Jenkins (son of Thomas) married Mar- 
garet Swain. Their children were : Charles, Judith, 
Samuel, Barzillai, and Abisha. After the death of 
his wife, he married Hannah Waterman, daughter 
of Mary Williams Waterman, and granddaughter of 
Roger Williams, who bore him two sons, William 
and John W. (John W. Jenkins married Hannah 
Barten and had a large family of children ; his farm 
was near Hudson, N. Y., where he died February 
3, 1877, aged ninety years.) 

Barzillai Jenkins (son of Charles Jenkins and 
Margaret Swain, his wife) married Susan Barnard. 
Their children were : Avis, who died young ; Almira, 



190 The Jenkins-Barnard Family. 



who died young; Edwin, married Sophia Montfort; 
Robert, who married Elizabeth Montfort; Susan 
Almira; Rowland, died single; Oliver A., married 
Jane Dougherty ; Emeline Barnard, who married 
John M. Howe. 

THE ANCESTORS OF THOMAS JENKINS 
ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE. 

John Folger came from Norwich, England, in 1636. 

Peter Folger (son of John) had a large family; his 
daughter Abiah married Jonas Franklin, and became 
the mother of Benjamin Franklin ; his son Eliazer 
had a son Matthew ; and Matthew Folger a daughter, 
Judith, who married Thomas Jenkins in 1728. 

THE BARNARD FAMILY. 

The Barnards trace their ancestry to John Carver 
of the Mayflower, afterwards governor of the colony. 
Abishai Barnard married Susannah, daughter of 
Stephen Paddock. Their children were : Eunice ; 
Eugene ; Frederick ; Anna ; Susan, who married 
Barzillai Jenkins, and died in 1849; Hephzibeh; 
Charles; Robert; William; Emeline. 

The great responsibilities involved in such a mar- 
riage as that proposed led Miss Jenkins to pause long 
upon its threshold, but at length, in the fear of God and 



The Marriage Ceremony. 191 



with great solemnity, she consented to the proposed 
initiative. The result was their marriage in the 
Greene Street M. E. Church, on the afternoon of 
May 7, 1846, by Rev. Dr. Nathan Bangs, the pastor. 
A short journey to neighboring places, and Dr. Howe 
and his bride became installed in 227 Grand street. 
This has proved itself the happiest possible union. 
For all but forty years this noble woman, true wife 
and mother, has ministered to the incessant wants of 
this ever feeble man, and at length smoothed his dying 
pillow, and closed his eyes to earth forever. The 
children of the two former mothers that came to her 
she has reared to maturity, and they are as honoring 
and affectionate as if they had never fondled any other 
maternal bosom. Six others have blessed this latest 
marriage of Dr. Howe: George Rowland, born at 
209 [227] Grand street, October 21, 1847, an< ^ bap- 
tized in the same house by Rev. Dr. Nathan Bangs. 
He is of the firm of Carter, Sloan & Co., of this city, 
well-known jewelers, is an active member and officer 
of St. Paul's M. E. Church, of the city of Newark, 
N. J., and is raising an interesting family. He was 
married by his father to Louisa Anna Barber, at 
Homer, Cortland Co., N. Y., on June 11, 1879, at 
four p. m. 

Edwin Jenkins, born in Orange, N. J., July 2, 1849, 
and baptized by Rev. Daniel Smith March 8, 1850, 
at 209 [227] Grand street. On the 18th of Novem- 
ber, 1875, he married Sarah Louise, daughter of Henry 



192 



The Jenkins Children. 



and Sarah Simmons, at Judge Simmons's house in 
Passaic, Dr. J. M. Howe officiating. He is a promi- 
nent practitioner of medicine in Newark, N. J., and 
an active member and officer of Central M. E. Church 
of the same city. 

Charles Mortimer was born May 1, 1851, at 209 
Grand street, and baptized in the same place by Bishop 
Janes, February 13, 1852. He was married October 
12, 1876, at Bath, N. Y., to M. Ida, daughter of 
Augustus Canfield. They have an interesting family, 
and reside in Passaic, next door to his mother. He 
has a good practice in dentistry, and is mayor of the 
city — not only elected but reelected to that office — 
honored and influential. 

Ella Louise was born November 16, 1852, in 227 
Grand street, and was baptized in the homestead at 
Acquackanonk, N.. J., by Rev. Bishop Janes, July 2, 
1853. On the 20th of June, 1874, she married Ansel 
B. Maxim, an honorable merchant and a Christian 
young man, who, however, fell an early victim to 
pulmonary consumption, and died at the residence of 
her mother, in Passaic, at nine o'clock on the morning 
of Saturday, April 24, 1886. She has been sweetly 
sustained amid her bereavement and many afflictions 
by Him under the shadow of whose wing she came in 
early childhood to trust, and resides with her only 
child beneath the roof of her mother. 

Emeline Jenkins was born June 1, 1856, in the 
homestead at Passaic, N. J., and baptized at the 



The Jenkins Children. 



193 



same place in the September following by Prof. John 
Morgan, D. D., of Oberlin College. She is the wife 
of a prosperous merchant, David Carlisle, to whom 
she was married in Passaic by her father, assisted by 
Dr. (now Bishop) J. H. Vincent, on the 1st day of June, 
1876. She resides in a delightful home in Passaic, 
nearly opposite her mother s, has an interesting family, 
and is, with her husband, a member of the First M. E. 
Church in Passaic, of which he is also an officer. 

Susan Elanora was also born in the homestead at 
Passaic, October 18, 1858, and was baptized in the 
same place by Bishop Janes in July, i860. On Jan- 
uary 7, 1883, she was married by her father to Prof. 
Byron D, Halstead, afterwards professor in the 
State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, and now 
professor at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. 
They also have an interesting family. Their influ- 
ence is widely felt for good. 

There are at this moment twenty grandchildren, 
and these, with the eight living children, and seven 
husbands and wives, are all in good health and lead- 
ing good and useful lives. Fannie has lost two in- 
fant boys ; John a little daughter four years old, 
and George an infant son. No other deaths have 
occurred within the family circle since Emeline B. 
Jenkins's marriage to Dr. J. M. Howe, until the father 
was called home. Certainly this is marvelous indeed, 
perhaps, we may say, unparalleled. 

Think of three sets of children of different mater- 
2 5 



i 9 4 



The Honored Mother. 



nities, and three families that are in consequence 
brought together, and of the differing judgments 
that must exist; think also of the opportunities for 
jealousies and suspicions that are likely to arise, and 
then think of complete harmony existing, and espe- 
cially of the concentration of affection upon the living 
mother, as if they had all been born of her. This, 
too, has now been in face of a will to be executed, of 
real estate to be divided, of a mother to some, and a 
step-mother to others, to be provided for for an in- 
definite period, and yet not one of the heirs would 
have the mother receive either a comfort or a dollar 
less than she has, and not one dispute has arisen 
among themselves about any of their respective por- 
tions or possessions. " Behold, how good and how 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." 
Such be the commendation of such children, and the 
closing words of the book of the wise man be applied 
to the mother : " Her price is far above rubies. 
She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her 
tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to 
the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread 
of idleness. Her children arise up and call her 
blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou ex- 
cellest them all. Favor is deceitful and beauty is 
vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall 
be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and 
let her own works praise her in the gates." 



The Honored Mother. 



195 



In April, 1880, Mrs. Howe was stricken down 
with hemorrhage from the lungs, and for about three 
years she was almost entirely laid aside ; but since 
then she has slowly regained her health and been 
able to resume many of her active duties. In Feb- 
ruary, 1882, it being Sabbath, Dr. Howe records 
that his " excellent wife" arose in her usual health, 
and began preparations for church, when she was 
seized with hemorrhage from the throat and lungs. 
As her health had lately been improving, he descants 
upon his disappointed hopes and the variety and 
precariousness of all that is earthly, and then he 
gives, under somber apprehensions, his own estimate 
of his wife. He says: " Her life has been a true 
womanly life — true to herself, to God, to the Church, 
to her husband, her children, her relatives, and 
friends. She has been the helper of the poor, in 
sympathy with the afflicted, and ready to help in all 
times of need. A beautiful, true, womanly life. A 
few minutes before the bleeding began she had been 
speaking in praise of the blessings which accrue to 
families when parents give their children the advan- 
tages of education and facilities to make their lives 
useful and in consequence happy." This remarkable 
domestic felicity, in view of the circumstances, is often 
recurred to in his record. 

In May, 1883, he writes: "One of the most 
pleasant thoughts of my life is the unanimity of 
my children during all the periods in which they 



196 



The Honored Mother. 



have been growing up, and in fact all the time 
of their young manhood and womanhood. It has 
afforded me the greatest gratification to say, and 
to repeat it, 'that the children had never a quarrel 
in all their lives. I never knew a large family to 
grow up together with no friction to mar their happi- 
ness and with kindly feeling such as that which char- 
acterizes those of my children.' The family consists 
of one daughter by the first wife, Fanny Ramadge 
Howe, and one son, John Morgan Howe, by the 
second wife, and three daughters and three sons by 
the last wife. The good feeling and the absence of 
all irritating annoyance grew out largely from the 
excellent families into which I married, all the mem- 
bers of which were so sensible, and so amiable, and 
so studious to promote peace and good-will towards 
every individual of which the circle was composed, — 
young or old, — to say nothing which could be con- 
strued to the detriment of any one. The word ' step- 
mother' was never heard in the house. My excellent 
wife just mothered them all. It may be twice or thrice 
in the years past some injudicious person did use the 
word step-mother, but it was soon understood that no 
such word was favored in our home by any one. God 
be praised for the kindly feeling and the loving atmos- 
phere in which all the children grew up. The religious 
influence, too, had much to do in the promotion of the 
good understanding which existed. Each one of the 
boys, from the little fellows up, were called upon occa- 



Household Customs. 



197 



sionally at meals to ask the blessing, from the youngest 
to the oldest; and so at family prayers night and 
morning, when a portion of Scripture was read, two 
or three verses or more of a hymn was sung, and then 
if a boy was asked in turn with their father or mother 
or aunt to lead in prayer, never, in a single instance, 
did any one of them decline. The singing at prayer 
time was regularly kept up until such a period that 
the boys and girls were no longer at home. God be 
thanked for so much of home religious influence. 
And now, the children are all married and are in 
homes of their own, I greatly desire that peace and 
unanimity may still be pursued and cultivated by each 
one of the children in the future as in the past, to foster 
which, if an unkind word be spoken by any one, let 
it never be repeated, cultivate ignorance of all that is 
ugly, and cultivate all that is kind and lovely ; and be 
determined to know nothing but kindness and good 
feeling, and in so doing to emulate the example and 
influence of your parents, and the sensible and good 
relatives by which they and you were surrounded in 
all your earlier years." 

A careful reading of the family record given above 
will show that in less than two years from this last 
marriage, the family circle consisted of the happy 
parents, of " Fannie " and John, full of the life and 
spirits of earliest childhood, and George in his mother's 
arms. The father was still far from rugged, and the 
mother was taxed with family cares. It was thought 



Removal to Orange. 



wise that the family should find some rural home, 
where the children might have freer range than a city 
lot and the pavements could furnish, and where the 
doctor with his family might indulge in drives amid 
green fields and beneath shading trees. As usual, 
attracted by friends who had removed to Orange, 
N. J., not by any means then the great rural resort 
it now is, he obtained a little plain home with a little 
land about it, in the midst of the small village of that 
time. From there he came daily to the city for busi- 
ness, lengthening as much as possible the mornings 
and the evenings at his home, and in the fall they 
resumed their home at 227 Grand street. This 
manner of life continued for four seasons — a summer 
home at Orange and winter quarters at Grand street. 
And in this Orange home, as the record above states, 
"Ed." was born, and in a couple of years afterwards, 
"Charlie" during their stay in New York. This 
was too much of a family for two removals each season, 
and the question of a permanent rural home for the 
family was considered. 

Mrs. Catherine Holsman, wife of Daniel Holsman, 
a wealthy manufacturer of Paterson, had a rural home 
near Passaic Bridge, N. J. She was a devoted Meth- 
odist, and her presence in the neighborhood was a 
special attraction to Dr. Howe, to whom she was 
a warm personal friend. It so happened also that 
among his church friends in New York was a numer- 
ous and somewhat extensive and influential family by 



Acquackanonk. 



the name of Mead. One of the younger members of 
this circle, Rev. Alexander H. Mead, son of Staats 
Mead, Esq., was at the time stationed at Acquacka- 
nonk, N. J., a sparsely settled Dutch neighborhood, 
about twelve miles from New York City, subsequently 
called Passaic. The wife of this minister was the 
daughter of Dr. Mark Stephenson, of New York City, 
a distinguished specialist for the eye and ear, a 
prominent Methodist, and a dear personal friend of 
Dr. Howe. Here, at Acquackanonk, there was for 
sale, at a very low rate, a little farm consisting of fifty 
acres, to which Mr. Mead called Dr. Howe's atten- 
tion, and which the doctor hastened to buy. Upon 
this he erected a large house, which became the home- 
stead of the family for many years, and the scene of 
a great portion of the family history. 

No town at this time existed upon the present site 
of the city of Passaic. Farms lay along the river, 
and the descendants of the old Dutch settlers still 
occupied these goodly acres, preserving many of 
the habits and very much of the simplicity of 
manners of their forefathers. The first church 
building was then standing and the old Dutch Re- 
formed Church congregation occupied it, with the 
Rev. William Bogardus as pastor. The True Re- 
formed Church building was also standing, and the 
Rev. John Berdan was ministering there to a small 
congregation. The Reformers, believing in a lower 
type of Calvinism than the old church did, separated 



200 



The Fa7nily Homestead. 



from them. These two pastors furnished the whole 
community with spiritual food, except a little com- 
pany of Methodists who worshiped in the ball-room 
of the old tavern, afterwards known as Speir's Hall. 
A number of workmen, most of whom were Method- 
ists, had moved in, about 1840, and been employed 
at the foundry, then recently established at Passaic 
Bridge by William Frazier, a dealer in stoves, etc., 
in New York City, and a member of the Sands 
Street M. E. Church, Brooklyn. They afterwards, 
about 1843, built a little church in the neighborhood. 
When the city of Passaic began to grow, and the 
center of population was consequently removed, this 
building was removed to Passaic. Upon the subse- 
quent erection of the present M. E. Church it was 
sold, and has been remodeled, and is at this writing 
used as a City Hall by the city of Passaic. 

To the great home at Passaic, of the erection of 
which we have already spoken, the family removed 
in April, 1853 ; "Ella" in the meantime added to the 
little flock six months before, making in all just half 
a dozen. Dr. Howe and wife transferred to Acquacka- 
nonk their church membership, and largely their 
influence, means, and labors. It became, in fact, the 
family homestead, around which clustered as time 
passed on a thousand precious memories. Beneath 
the shade of its trees, over its lawns and gravel walks, 
and amid its flowers and fruits, were spent the de- 
lightful childhood and youth of this large family. Its 




ARTOTYPEj E SIERSTADT, m. Y. 



The Family Homestead, 



201 



spacious chambers opened their numerous doors to 
guests congenial to the various ages and tastes of its 
household. The doctor was the companion of all. 
He spent his mornings and evenings in drives about 
the vicinity, in sharing the games of the children, or 
participating in bright and cheery conversation, or 
perchance in music with song. The home in Grand 
street had for long years opened a wide hospitality 
to ministers and others who found agreeable society 
there. It was a great joy to the doctor to entertain 
these distinguished friends, and his own mind and 
soul were enriched from their treasures. This still 
greater homestead into which they were now enter- 
ing became also an important center of local enter- 
tainment for the Methodist churches of the region, 
so that the family were rarely for a single Sabbath 
without some clerical guest, who perchance might 
have also to be conveyed to his appointment. Pre- 
siding elders, and occasionally bishops and literary 
men, were among the guests, and Dr. Howe feasted 
upon such associations. All who remember the home 
as it appeared on a clear summer evening, remember 
well what a lively scene the piazzas, walks, lawns, and 
parlors always presented, and these homestead scenes 
will never fade from the memory of the children. One 
of these bright days was the silver wedding anniver- 
sary, celebrated May 1 1 , 1 8 7 1 . The family reunion of 
the afternoon, when all was joy and gladness within 
doors, and sunshine, verdure, and blossoms without, 
26 



202 



The Faynily Homestead. 



and the reception that followed in the evening, when 
friends and neighbors in large numbers added to the 
enjoyment of the occasion, deserves especial mention. 
Their home was always full of brightness and cheer, 
and the parents were careful that childhood should 
have all that could make it gladsome. Every child 
had its pet. There were dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea- 
pigs, chickens, birds, donkeys, and such like, all to 
be cared for by the different members of the family. 
The doctor himself, too, loved a horse, and was fond 
of the saddle, and indulged almost to the last in nearly 
daily rides. As the boys grew into manhood they 
also betook themselves to the management of horses 
and the riding of them. Some of our illustrations 
will manifest these points. 

It will be impossible to recite here the multiform 
labors in which from this time till his death the doc- 
tor was perpetually engaged. He was identified 
with the growth of the city of Passaic and its institu- 
tions. Nothing that belonged to the public weal 
failed to interest him. For long periods he gave 
his ministerial services to the Methodist churches, 
and to the community, entirely without fee or reward, 
himself often the chief pecuniary incidental support 
of the Methodist church. As the city grew he opened 
streets and ways and erected numerous houses. He 
took a profound interest in educational matters, and, 
indeed, in all that was humanitarian, benevolent, and 
religious in the community. 



Schools of Passaic. 



203 



The only school in the place at the time of his re- 
moval there was the common school, kept in an old 
dilapidated school-house, one story in height, about 
15 x 25 feet. The benches and the building were of 
the style in vogue a hundred years ago, and some of 
the oldest residents had received all their education 
there. No interest was felt in the subject of general 
education. If one could read and write or cipher a little 
nothing more was considered necessary. Here and 
there a family of position and wealth made provision 
for their own children as they pleased. Dr. Howe 
felt the importance of education, but in considering 
his removal to Acquackanonk, all his children being 
small, the subject of schools was entirely lost sight 
of. As the children grew up, what to do for 
their proper education became a very embarrassing 
question. 

In 1859 a wealthy and intelligent Christian lady 
residing in Acquackanonk applied at St. Paul's Mis- 
sion in New York City for a gardener. She was in- 
formed they had no gardener, but had a classical 
school teacher, and advised that he be employed as 
a gardener. This did not seem to be desirable, but 
she spoke of the young man to Dr. Howe and sug- 
gested that he be employed as a tutor to his children 
at a low salary, say one hundred dollars a year and 
his board. The offer was made and accepted. He 
did not appear, however, on the afternoon agreed 
upon, nor until nine o'clock in the evening, a very 



204 



Schools of Passaic. 



dark and rainy one. Dr. Howe then learned that 
not having money enough to pay his fare, he had 
walked from New York, a distance of twelve miles, 
and but for the croaking of the frogs in the ditches 
on either side of the road he would not have been 
able to keep from straying into them, Thus entered 
Duncan Campbell upon his work in this place. 

The teaching was done in the upper story of the 
Howe homestead. It was soon evident that he was 
doing well with his school, and Dr. Howe suggested 
that he invite half a dozen pupils from outside, and so 
increase his income. Mr. Campbell was willing to 
teach the other pupils, but insisted that his full serv- 
ices being due to Dr. Howe at the rate agreed upon 
for a full year, the tuition must be paid to the doctor. 
To this Dr. Howe would not listen, and it was a little 
time before this financial difficulty could be adjusted ; 
but Mr. Campbell at length consented to take the 
pupils and receive the tuition fees, collecting them 
himself. When the year had expired, the doctor 
suggested that Mr. Campbell should rent one of his 
cottages and open a school, which he did, the doctor 
giving him the rent of the cottage in lieu of the one 
hundred dollars cash of the previous year, and he 
remained an inmate of the Howe homestead. 

During the year the doctor built "The Academy," 
and Mr. Campbell took possession of it. The build- 
ing was of concrete, built entirely under the super- 
vision of the doctor's farmer, a German by the name 



Schools of Passaic. 



205 



of Herp ; the idea of so building having been sug- 
gested by the erection, of this material, of the beau- 
tiful octagonal homestead across the river, by the 
Hasbrouck family. The doctor visiting his brother- 
in-law, Rev. John M. Reid, D. D., the following sum- 
mer, who was the president of Genesee College, at 
Lima, N.Y., obtained for Mr. Campbell, upon proper 
representation of his qualifications, the degree of mas- 
ter of arts. Mr. Campbell usually spent his summer 
vacations at the house of Mr. John W. Jenkins, an 
uncle of Mrs. Howe, near the city of Hudson, N. Y. 
One summer, among those who, like himself, resorted 
to this part of the country were a couple of ladies 
who taught a select German school for young ladies 
in the city of Brooklyn. Between one of these, Miss 
Leontine Vogelbusch, and Mr. Campbell sprang up 
an affection which led to their marriage and to his 
leaving Passaic to share the labors of his wife's 
school. 

After he left, Mr. Flanders, from Vermont, 

who afterwards entered the Methodist ministry, suc- 
ceeded him, and taught a few months. Then Rev. 
Mr. Pratt, a Presbyterian clergyman, took charge of 
the little academy for a short time, leaving then for a 
better place to which he had been invited. 

By this time the doctor's sons, Edwin and Charles, 
were away at boarding school, and the advantages 
of this academy were required for his daughters 
only. He accordingly engaged as teacher Miss 



206 



Schools of Passaic. 



Nellie Tupper, daughter of Rev. Wm. Tupper, of the 
New England Conference. She was a highly ac- 
complished teacher, and after a year accepted an 
invitation to the city of Boston, where she died. 

She was succeeded by Miss Byington, from 

Stockbridge, Mass., who managed the academy very 
successfully for many years. Then Rev. John A. 
Munroe, the son-in-law of Dr. Howe, who had been 
conducting a school of high grade at Westminster, 
Md., removed to Passaic. His superior services 
soon rendered the old academy building altogether 
too small for the accommodation of the school, and 
Dr. Howe gave a lot on Howe avenue to his 
daughter, on which her husband, Rev. J. A. Munroe, 
erected a more commodious building, and taught 
therein until he entered the pastoral work in 1873. 
Mr. Munroe sold out his school to C. A. De R. 
Spencer, Ph. D., who conducted it for a time. Dr. 
Howe's connection with the schools ceased when Mr. 
Munroe assumed control, and therefore we prosecute 
the narrative no further. It will be seen, however, 
that Dr. Howe may in a very important and truthful 
sense be honored as the originator or founder of the 
educational institutions of Passaic. 

Under the head of "Educational," W. Woodford 
Clayton, in his " History of Bergen and Passaic 
Counties," says: 

"In 1853 Dr. John M. Howe removed from the 
city of New York to Acquackanonk. He was a man 



Schools of Passaic. 



207 



of wealth and influence, and became a large land- 
owner and benefactor of the town. In 1856 he was 
elected town superintendent and president of the 
board of school trustees. Being interested in the 
cause of education, and there being no school-house 
in town except the old dilapidated building on the 
church lot, he agitated the question of building a 
new school- house, called a meeting of the citizens, 
and procured a vote in favor of raising $5000 for 
that object. The plan, however, was defeated by 
the resistance of the minority, several persons enter- 
ing their protest, and one justice of the peace in- 
forming Dr. Howe that if he proceeded with the 
building he would put a stop to it by legal process. 

" Dr. Howe then built a private school-house, pri- 
marily for the benefit of his own family, employed 
his own teachers, and fixed the terms of admission 
for others who were disposed to send their sons and 
daughters there to receive its benefits. Thus, Dr. 
Howe's Academy, as it was called, became a noted 
institution, and flourished for many years. It was kept 
in successful operation until the necessity for it was 
superseded by the establishment of the present public 
school system in Passaic, including the high school, 
in which are taught the usual academic branches. 
Dr. Howe was an earnest worker in bringing about 
this important change and in inaugurating the free 
public school system of the State. He is at present 
a member of the State Board of Education." 



IX. 



LIFE IN PASSAIC. 



OR fourteen years after the removal to Acquacka- 



X nonk Dr. Howe continued to practice dentistry 
in the city of New York. It was his daily custom to 
go to the city and return. Before going and after 
returning, he busied himself in superintending the 
improvement of his place, in cultivating or gathering 
his fruits and flowers, in driving with his family and 
friends, in dispensing charities to beneficiaries, in 
church work, and in all kinds of activities healthful to 
his body and congenial to his mind and spirit. He 
held many offices in the church, took a deep interest 
in the affairs of the growing town, and occasionally 
preached, as he was desired. He was rarely, very 
rarely indeed, unemployed. 





DR. J. M. HOWE. 

AUGUSTUS HOLDING MARCO. 



Life in Passaic. 



209 



One oppressively hot morning in June, 1870, all the 
children being at Sunday-school but " Charlie," who 
was confined to his bed by illness, Dr. Howe falls into 
the following reverie which opens an inner door to the 
home. He says : " Life is full of cares and anxieties. 
Beautiful objects surround me on every side. Beauti- 
ful home, loving wife and children, all in unison with 
God, and all members of the M. E. Church. The 
means that have been blessed, as I feel assured, to the 
conversion of the children, have been the influences 
of family prayer, and especially the singing of our 
beautiful hymns night and morning. Of late years, 
one of the younger children plays the tune on a small 
organ, she having first selected the hymn." Elsewhere 
he tells us how each of the children in turn gave 
thanks vocally, before the meal, to God, the Giver of 
all good things. 

Upon this loving, beautiful domestic circle at Passaic 
death never once intruded until it came to translate 
its venerated head in the eightieth year of his earthly 
life. This exemption of so large a family from be- 
reavement was constant occasion of gratitude to God, 
and of abounding joy. But it could not be expected 
that the current of domestic life should have flowed 
on with no ripple of care or perplexity during all these 
years. On the 1 6th of April, 1852, they were startled 
to find that " little Eddy," then but three years old, 
had small-pox. No ordinary anxiety seized the father, 
for mother and all the other children were liable to 
27 



2IO 



Life in Passaic, 



have the disease, and the doctor himself, weakest of 
all, might be seized and carried off. But the possi- 
bility that all these little ones might be left without a 
mothers care was his most agonizing apprehension. 
But God became his refuge, and it was wonderful how 
the emergency was provided for. It soon appeared 
that both maids had had the disease, and one of them, 
Ann Percival, had been Eddy's companion from 
infancy, and to her he was fondly attached. He was 
quarantined in an upper room, and committed to the 
care of Ann. It was hard for the parents to be thus 
banished from him, but there was constant and united 
prayer, prompted by a wealth of love, and his conva- 
lescence soon began. 

In less than a fortnight from the time Eddy was 
attacked, namely on Sabbath, the 25th of April, 1852, 
Dr. Howe gives the following account of himself for 
the day, which may be regarded as but a specimen 
of the way in which he spent many Sabbaths. He 
says : 

" This morning at half-past eight o'clock I distrib- 
uted tracts. At half-past nine o'clock I visited a sick 
young man, Mrs. Farr's son, whose symptoms indi- 
cate consumption. At half-past ten attended service 
in Vestry Street Church, and heard a sermon from 
Rev. Davis W. Clark on the death of Bishop Hed- 
ding, which took place during the past month. I had 
the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with the 
bishop, and I can truly say I never knew a man for 



Life in Passaic. 



2 I I 



whom I entertained greater regard while living, and 
whose memory and virtues I more highly cherish and 
venerate now that he is dead. While I listened to 
the clear and unostentatious unfolding of the bishop's 
character, and the recital of his life, labors, self-denial, 
and sacrifices for the cause of God, I could not but 
feel deeply my own worthlessness and littleness. 
Surely, if I get to heaven, it will only be by grace 
through faith. 

" In looking around upon the congregation, I noticed 
great changes had occurred during the eight or ten 
years that had elapsed since I last worshiped there. 
Then I had many acquaintances there ; now all were 
strangers. I recognized but one official man, but then 
I knew the whole board. I am admonished that the 
world is passing away. So many have gone before 
me into the invisible that I begin to feel alone. Oh, 
that I may be prepared when my time comes. This 
afternoon I preached in the Bethel Ship to a large 
congregation from Psalms lvii : 7 — ' O God, my 
heart is fixed.' " 

But there were some still wider fields into which 
he entered. On the 28th of March, 1865, he re- 
ceived a telegram from Mr. William A. Whitehead, 
president of the board, informing him that he had 
been appointed by the Governor one of the trustees 
of the State Normal School, and expressing the 
Governor's desire that he would accept the office 
and be present at the meeting. From this time on- 



212 



Life in Passaic. 



ward, under the present and succeeding Governors 
for about twenty years, it was one of his great 
pleasures to attend to the duties of this office. The 
fellowship of the distinguished gentlemen that com- 
posed this board, as well as the duties themselves, 
were in the highest degree congenial to his tastes. 
Mr. Charles Elmer, the secretary, Mr. Elias Cook, 
treasurer until his death in 1879, Dr. Maclean, ex- 
president of Princeton College, long past his three 
score and ten but full of mental vigor, Rev. Will- 
iam H. Steele, D. D., ex- Chancellor Williamson, and 
others are often named by him with loving rever- 
ence. Calling upon one of the distinguished educators 
of the State for material for the present chapter, added 
to the facts that were so kindly furnished us, was an 
affirmation that the broad foundations on which the 
educational interests of the State now rest are due 
to the judgment of a few of the distinguished mem- 
bers of the early Board of Education, naming Dr. 
Howe among these. 

His first certificate was signed by Governor Marcus 
L. Ward March 28, 1866, and he was reappointed 
by the same Governor March 19, 1867. He was 
successively appointed to the same office for two 
terms by Governor Theodore F. Randolph, for one 
term by Governor Joel Parker, for one term by Gov- 
ernor Joseph D. Bedle, for two terms by Governor 
George B. McClellan, and for one term by Governor 



Life in Passaic. 



213 



George C. Ludlow, this last certificate being dated 
March 20, 1882, so that he was continuously in the 
office for a period of nearly twenty years. 

In December, 1869, Governor Ward writes to Dr. 
Howe as follows: "I consider your connection with 
the State Board as one of much importance to the 
great cause of education, and I rejoice that in you 
the State has one whose heart and mind earnestly 
sympathize with the work. The value of the influ- 
ence of one hearty worker cannot be estimated, and 
I have often felt grateful that so far as it devolved 
on me I have been so fortunate in securing intel- 
ligent, good, and faithful men to control these im- 
portant interests." Others of the noble men that 
constituted this board express their very high appre- 
ciation of Dr. Howe's services in this important 
position. We must indulge in but one more extract. 
Let this be from a letter dated December 16, 1884, 
written to Dr. Howe by Rev. John Maclean, LL. D., 
ex-president of Princeton College. This venerable 
man, of whom New Jersey had none other more 
highly esteemed, says to Dr. Howe : " It is a source 
of much pleasure to me to be held in kind remem- 
brance by you whom, from our first acquaintance, I 
have held in sincere respect and esteem for qualities 
which indicate the Christian and the gentleman. 
We are both 1 nearing the port,' you at seventy-five 
and I at nearly eighty-five years of age, and I trust 



214 



Life in Passaic. 



that through the grace of our God and our Saviour 
we shall enter it in safety when our work on earth is 
finished." 

It is not easy to suitably represent the number 
and variety of important and sometimes perplexing 
questions that arose in connection with the educa- 
tional matters of the State. The correspondence of 
Dr. Howe shows him to have been intensely inter- 
ested in many of them. The great question of in- 
dustrial schools at one time seemed to engross his 
attention. At another time he seems to have let his 
heart out against denying the best advantages of our 
schools to a child merely because he was of darker 
complexion than most of us, and he was prepared to 
protest against " caste in schools." To all the grave 
questions that arose from time to time in connection 
with the education of the State, he gave the closest 
and the calmest consideration, and fearlessly assumed 
the strongest positions relative thereto. 

In 1884, when near life's close, Dr. Howe writes to 
his son George as follows : 

" I wrote a few lines to Rev. Dr. Maclean, refer- 
ring to our loss of Mr. Wm. A. Whitehead, and 
received from him a beautiful letter referring to 
Mrs. W. in very commendatory language; — and 
Dr. Maclean must be over eighty-two or eighty- 
three years of age. He is greatly beloved by those 
who know him. It is my pleasure to be acquainted 
with honorable and true men and women ; my asso- 



Life in Passaic. 



215 



ciations while in the State Board of Education en- 
abled me to form a higher estimate of Jerseymen 
than I had of the good people before. Circumstances 
develop character. The fact is we are surrounded by- 
many persons, but few of them for lack of develop- 
ment do we really understand, and some that we 
have learned to estimate very highly so soon are 
gone beyond recall. But then the world is better by 
their influence while they lived, and by the remem- 
brance of them when they are dead. But as it is 
with fruit, it does not exhibit all its perfections until 
it is fully ripe ; so with men and women, they do not 
show forth all their excellencies until they are ready 
to pass away. Kirke White wrote thus : 

"The most beloved on earth 
Not long survives to-day, 
So music past is obsolete, 
And yet 't was sweet, 't was passing sweet, 
But now 't is gone away." 

But with no one object was his life more intimately 
associated than with the rise and progress of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Passaic. When the 
Howe family first removed to Acquackanonk, the lit- 
tle wooden church, which the Methodist workmen of 
the foundry had erected three or four years pre- 
viously at Passaic Bridge, chiefly by the encourage- 
ment of Mr. Frazier and Mrs. Holsman, was standing 



2l6 



Life in Passaic. 



on the west side of the road about two hundred 
feet north of the Passaic, Erie R. R. bridge, It was 
about a mile from the Howe homestead. It had 
been dedicated by the Rev. Daniel P. Kidder, and 
the pulpit was first supplied by a preacher whose 
name was Lougheed. The lot upon which the 
church stood was about 80 feet by 150, and had 
been donated by Mr. Frazier from a farm that he 
owned. He had erected several houses north of the 
bridge, which his workmen occupied. The farm was 
afterwards sold to Dr. Aycrigg, a member of the 
Dutch Reformed Church, whose wife was reported 
to be a millionaire, and was a worthy, benevolent 
lady. The doctor proceeded to erect a fine stone 
mansion on the place, and was annoyed that this 
little Methodist church should be so near to it. At 
a later date, Mrs. Holsman interested herself to 
build a parsonage. Dr. Aycrigg notified the church 
that if they did so he would build a high fence 
around it and shut off their view. This caused the 
foundation to be built in a new place, but, never- 
theless, it was so offensive that the fence went up, 
and the ministers family had no south view without 
going to the sidewalk, and on the north side the doc- 
tor placed two dwellings, one on the front and the 
other on the rear. The doctor meant to make his 
place the model place of New Jersey, and these 
little dwellings and this inferior meeting-house were 
no improvement of the landscape. Neither would 



Life in Passaic. 



217 



crowds of inferior people that in those days flocked 
to Methodist churches be desirable, or the noise of 
their singing and praying in time of revival add to 
the quiet of his home. But, alas ! for human schemes 
and expectations ! He had scarcely settled himself 
in his new home before he died. Before his death, 
however, Mr. Lougheed had been succeeded by Rev. 
Stacy W. Hilliard, who was greatly praised and 
prized by Dr. Aycrigg's family. After him came 
Rev. Alexander H. Mead, who was in charge when 
Dr. Howe came to the place, and, as we have already 
seen, it was at Mr. Mead's suggestion that Dr. Howe 
first visited Acquackanonk. At the conference in 
April, 1853, Rev. John Faull was appointed to suc- 
ceed Mr. Mead, and served the charge two years. 
Mr. Faull was an Englishman, had been a Wesleyan 
local preacher, and a miner. He was without school- 
ing, and entirely self-educated. Rev. Sylvester 
Armstrong succeeded Mr. Faull, though at the con- 
ference, namely of 1855, the charge was left to be 
supplied. This gentleman was an American of most 
progressive views and very great ability. He was 
very bold in denouncing sin and especially that of 
human slavery. Of course, he was not without op- 
ponents, but Dr. Howe doubts much whether the 
church ever had his superior in ability as a preacher. 
He was re-appointed in 1856. During his pastorate 
at Acquackanonk he was bereaved of his wife, and 
Dr. Howe preached her funeral sermon. He had 
28 



218 



Life in Passaic. 



several appointments afterwards, was always in con- 
flict with somebody, had many trials, and at length, 
in comparative youth, rested in a consumptive's 
grave. He died in Plainfield in 1863, aged thirty- 
six. Rev. S. L. Bowman was the next pastor, and 
came to this charge with his bride in the year 1857. 
His coming was hailed with great joy, and new hope 
took possession of the little flock, but in about six 
months he took his departure for Cincinnati to en- 
gage in business. He, however, reentered the min- 
istry and has since risen to distinction. The charge, 
however, during these transitions, became distracted 
and discouraged. Mr. Frazier, too, had abandoned 
his foundry, the workmen had removed, and the 
property had been sold to Dr. Aycrigg, who tore 
down the dwellings of the workmen and the foundry 
which was opposite to the church. Little was left of 
Methodism at Passaic Bridge. Rev. James N. Keys 
was sent to supply for the residue of the year and 
served also for the year following. He was an ear- 
nest Irishman, with an amiable, excellent bride ; but 
there were no people to sustain the church, the few 
that remained being poor, except Mrs. Holsman and 
Dr. Howe. These, however, were true to their own 
church, small and disesteemed as it was, and some- 
what costly and self-sacrificing to its chief supporters, 
and, at the same time, the pastor was distressed. At 
the end of Mr. Keys's term, namely at the conference 
of 1859, Rev. John F. Hurst became pastor and 



Life in Passaic. 



219 



served the term of two years. Dr. Howe says : 
" Methodism, up to this pastorate, had made but little 
favorable impression upon the community. Mr. 
Hurst's influence helped us somewhat with those 
who had previously looked down upon us. His 
handsome deportment and services essentially pro- 
moted the welfare of the church." 

At the end of his term, namely 1861, Rev. John 
L. Swaim was appointed to the charge. Dr. Howe 
esteemed him highly, but Mrs. Holsman desired a 
change at the end of the year, and he was succeeded 
by Rev. Thomas E. Gordon, an Irishman, who re- 
mained only one year. Rev. Henry M. Simpson 
followed him. He was a graduate of the Wesleyan 
University and a good preacher, and his presence 
and labors to some extent were helpful to the feeble 
little flock. 

After Rev. Henry M. Simpson's term of service 
had expired, the Rev. B. F. Simpson was appointed, 
viz. in 1864. He was a young man of slender frame 
and delicate health, and of a nervous temperament. 
He was from the seminary at Concord, N. H. He 
was intensely moved by the breaking out of the re- 
bellion and was ready to offer himself as a soldier, 
when after about three months' service he was drafted, 
and at once accepted, refusing a substitute that gen- 
erous friends offered to provide. Dr. Howe then 
conferred with Mr. Charles M. K. Paulson, a wealthy 
and influential citizen of Passaic, and also with Mr. 



220 



Life in Passaic, 



Daniel Holsman, and with the latter went to the 
Governor to solicit the appointment of Mr. Simpson 
as chaplain. This they obtained and had the pleas- 
ure of handing to Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson con- 
tinued to hold this office till the close of the war, and 
then his health declined, and he finally died of con- 
sumption. The congregation meanwhile had greatly 
decreased, and such was its general condition that 
the presiding elder thought best to put Dr. Howe in 
charge, which he continued to bear for about twenty 
months. During this temporary pastorate of Dr. 
Howe he sold to Dr. Aycrigg the land on which the 
church was situated, reserving the church building, 
which was taken down and rebuilt upon a lot in the 
city donated by Dr. Howe for this purpose. This 
property was afterwards sold to the city, and it is now 
and has been for years occupied as a City Hall and 
lock-up. The last sermon was preached in the 
old church at the Bridge by Dr. Howe on Sunday 
morning, July 2, 1865, to between thirty and forty 
persons, from "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever." After the sermon he adminis- 
tered the Sacrament, and then they wept and prayed 
together, and he dismissed them with the benedic- 
tion. On July 9 the doctor preached again to about 
a similar sized company in the "Academy building." 
His text was John viii : 17, "If any man will do his 
will, he shall know of the doctrine." 



Life in Passaic. 



221 



The reerected building opened and was dedicated 
by Bishop Janes in 1865. The Rev. Edwin F, 
Hadly was appointed pastor in the spring of i866 a 
He came to a people very few and very conscious 
that their only hope was from on high. He found 
them praying for the Divine benediction. The result 
was a great reviving, considerable awakening, and 
some conversions. After a few weeks of extra effort 
the pastor took his vacation, and when he returned 
it was not possible to continue the interest He was 
removed at the end of one year. Another student 
from Concord succeeded him, Theodore H. Hagerty 
by name. He was strongly recommended by Dr. 
Stephen M. Vail, but he remained to supply but a 
single year, and then in 1868 came Rev. Alexander 
Craig. About the time of the opening of this pas- 
torate several persons had removed to Passaic who 
identified themselves with this church, to some of whom 
the pastor was not desirable, though in Dr. Howe's 
opinion Mr. Craig was well adapted to the wants of 
the church. He was reappointed, but the opposition 
was so great that he was finally transferred else- 
where, and Rev. E. V. King sent to Passaic. Dr. 
Howe, desiring to secure unity, joined in this move- 
ment against the return of the pastor, but it was 
ever afterwards to him an occasion of the greatest re- 
gret, which he took an early opportunity to express 
to Mr. Craig and to ask his forgiveness. During 



222 



Life in Passaic. 



the pastorate of Mr. Craig the agitation for the erec- 
tion of a new church became quite active, and Dr. 
Howe had intimated his willingness when the time 
came to give an eligible lot on which to place it, but 
nothing resulted from the agitation. An attempt 
was made to extort from Dr. Howe the deed of the 
lot in advance of other subscriptions, and his de- 
clinature to execute the deed led to many severe 
sayings that were a great affliction to him. He 
deemed it unwise to execute the deed until others 
were ready to subscribe towards the building. 

At the conference of 1871 Rev. George H. Whit- 
ney was appointed to Passaic, which had in the 
meantime greatly enlarged. Business was exceed- 
ingly active, and the price of land was greatly 
inflated; indeed, all business was inflated as a conse- 
quence of the war. Enterprising members of the 
M. E. Church had moved into Passaic. The acres 
of Dr. Howe's homestead had been cut by streets 
and avenues into town lots, and he had acquired the 
reputation of great wealth, though it was wealth not 
altogether available. The members of the church 
and congregation not only overrated Dr. Howe's 
means, but even more fully overrated their own. 
And the demand was for an elegant building, suited 
to the great town now springing up and the computed 
wealth of the members of the church. The staid 
and sober judgment of Dr. Howe was in opposition 
to any such erection as the one proposed. He espe- 



Life in Passaic. 



223 



cially thought the extra cost of a stone edifice should 
be avoided. The enthusiasm of some led them to 
declare that they were able to build at a cost of 
$200,000. His own extremely conservative views 
were that a building that would cost $25,000 or 
$30,000 would be far better suited to the means of 
the people. The enthusiasts of the hour very nat- 
urally chafed under the expression of his very mod- 
erate views, and those who esteemed him a millionaire 
regarded him as holding back the Church of God 
through a very narrow and even niggardly policy. 
He soon began to hear little sayings against himself, 
as if he were a small and mean man, and his heart 
was exceedingly wounded. 

Now, that they were ready to move forward, he 
deeded to them, in fulfillment of his promise, the lot 
on the corner of Gregory and Bloomfield avenues, 
where the corner-stone of the new church was laid 
September 3, 1870. The church was at length built 
and occupied, in part, in 1871 and finished in 1872, 
and during these years he also did what else seemed 
to him to be his duty to do. Before the new church 
was begun he thought that in his advanced years and 
increasing feebleness, and especially in view of his want 
of harmony with the great expenditure proposed, he 
should not retain the office of president of the board 
of trustees, which for the past twenty years he had 
held. He did not feel competent to meet the labors, 
cares, and responsibilities that were so manifestly 



224 



Life in Passaic. 



before the board in undertaking so costly an erec- 
tion when so few of the members of the church had, 
except in their enthusiastic imaginations, other than 
quite limited means. With much grief he therefore 
stepped aside from these long held powers and 
duties. 

In full faith that the country was rich and pros- 
perous, that Passaic was to be a great city, that they 
were themselves possessed of fortunes ample enough 
for the undertaking, the trustees plunged into the 
project of church building. Dr. Howes warnings, 
and the fact that his own fortune yielded moderately 
and not the expected scores of thousands of dollars 
for the enterprise, served perhaps to tone down the 
costliness of the project, and something less than 
the finest M. E. Church structure in New Jersey 
was consented to. Dr. Howes fears, however, were 
fully realized as to the smallness of the subscriptions 
in Passaic and the limited help from abroad, and, to 
his experienced business eye, disaster was soon im- 
pending for all concerned. His mental agony now 
became extreme. He foresaw the ruin of the 
church and the ruin of the trustees who were per- 
sonally responsible for its debts. He was exceed- 
ingly sorrowful that his brethren and the community 
should think him able to put his shoulders under the 
great burden, which he knew would crush him as 
well as the rest. Nearly $100,000 had been ex- 
pended when, as he gauged, the congregation was 



Life in Passaic. 



225 



really able to undertake but $25,000. It was spe- 
cially grievous to him to incur the disapprobation of 
esteemed pastors and distinguished ministers of 
Jesus Christ ; almost heart crushing to have his 
own sincerely intended good, evil spoken of. If he 
gave a lot worth its thousands it was attributed to 
selfishness, for it was said the erection of the church 
would but increase the value of his other lots. Not 
only private slander, but assault from the platform 
and pulpit served sometimes deeply to afflict him. 
There can be no doubt that this became one of the 
greatest griefs that clouded this passing era of his 
life. 

It is exceedingly interesting to observe how his 
better sense and Christian grace asserted themselves 
over his natural tendencies and impulses. He found 
that good was often evil spoken of — that this had 
been true even with his blessed Master. He came 
to realize that his own strength would be small, in- 
deed, if he should allow himself to faint now, in the 
day of adversity. He began to study the instructions 
and promises of God's book for cases like his own, 
and, above all, he began to cry to God for help, and 
to strive to hide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
Sometimes he spreads out upon his record extended 
comments upon passages of the Word of God, evi- 
dently studied for the sake of fortifying himself in 
this hour of trouble and temptation. Among these 
we find a full skeleton of a sermon from Prov. xvi: 7, 
29 



226 



Life in Passaic, 



"When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh 
even his enemies to be at peace with him." His first 
thought is that a man whose ways please the Lord 
has enemies. He then proceeds to consider why he 
has enemies. Third, how God maketh them to be 
at peace with him. 

In due time came a reverse in affairs. Money 
became as scarce as it had been abundant, and 
demands for payment so clamorous that they could 
not be silenced. Loans were obtained from a few 
outside friends, but at length the debts came with 
crushing power upon the church and the indorsing 
trustees, and several of them were utterly ruined. 
One excellent man, an invalid, and his most excel- 
lent wife, who had laid aside for this hour of their 
family need some $8000 or $9000, had all swept 
away to pay the church debt, and then the unfor- 
tunate himself removed from Passaic, and without 
murmuring or vindictiveness submitted himself to 
his reverses, resting on the naked promises of God. 
Several others settled their affairs in bankruptcy. 
Three officers of the church lost their all. The par- 
sonage was sold, and the church, too, was sold, and 
the gloomiest forebodings of Dr. Howe were sadly 
realized. The fact is, the St. Georges M. E. Church 
of Passaic was extinguished, and there seemed to be 
little hope of keeping the Methodism of the town 
together. Those who preferred this church, but had 
come to Passaic to diminish their expenses, betook 



Life in Passaic. 



227 



themselves to other congregations, and other Meth- 
odists who learned of the church embarrassments 
were deterred from coming to the place. The wreck 
was as pitiable as it was complete. 

Those who pushed on this great enterprise had 
been actuated by noble purposes to elevate and 
strengthen Methodism. It was true that the church 
could not prosper in that beautiful and growing town 
without a greatly improved place of worship. But 
they probably did not give sufficient weight to the 
cautious and perhaps over-moderate counsels of Dr. 
Howe, who was not less devoted to the interests of 
Methodism. It was poor consolation, indeed, for him 
to be able afterwards to say, " I told you so." It must 
also be conceded that a public sentiment raged at the 
time, not only in Passaic, but throughout the confer- 
ence, that Passaic must have an elegant new church. 
Indeed, it was currently reported that the eminent 
pastor, at the time of the building, was sent there with 
that object in view. He was undoubtedly under pres- 
sure from this force without, so tumultuous as to drown 
the feeble remonstrances of Dr. Howe. These cer- 
tainly did not pass for what they were worth. It was 
demanded by this inconsiderate zeal that, if this great 
enterprise could not be supported, the least that could 
be expected was silence. The case was evidently 
hopeless. It was impossible to bear the running 
expenses of the church, and no additions could be ex- 
pected to it while thus overburdened and distracted. 



228 



Life in Passaic. 



When the catastrophe at last came, Dr. Howe 
addressed himself to save what he could from the 
wreck, in the hope that he might found upon the 
ruins a new Methodist Episcopal church. For this 
purpose, he sought the counsel and help of his kins- 
man, James M. Fuller, Esq., an honored and wealthy 
Methodist, since deceased, but then residing at Ma- 
maroneck, N. Y. Mr. Fuller became profoundly in- 
terested in the matter, and when the day for selling 
the church property came, appeared and bid in the 
church building, all else being sacrificed. Methodist 
friends now consulted together, and agreed to make 
an attempt to buy back the church building, Mr. 
Fuller agreeing they should have it if they would 
but reimburse him. Dr. Howe's influence was given 
unreservedly to this undertaking, and his skill as a 
business man shone out. Certain amounts were ob- 
tained on mortgages, and certain contributions made, 
a new corporation formed, under the title of First 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Passaic, and to it the 
title of the property conveyed. A heavy burden of 
debt oppressed the new organization, but so much 
of the old debt had been extinguished in the bank- 
ruptcy of the individual officers of St. George's 
M. E. Church, and so much in the foreclosure of the 
mortgages on church and parsonage, that it was 
resolved to attempt to bear the rest of it, though 
it must prove an awful incubus for a score of years 
to come. 



Life in Passaic. 



229 



We have not been careful of our calendar in the 
course of these sad events, nor will we particularly 
rehearse the trials and sufferings of the pastors that 
followed. Rev. Wm. Day succeeded Dr. Whitney, 
and bore most grievous burdens for two years. The 
church then concluded they were no longer able to 
sustain a pastor, and were left "to be supplied/' 
Distinguished ministers filled the pulpit from Sabbath 
to Sabbath, but with diminishing congregations and 
income. After some months, it was noticed from 
the papers that Miss Anna Oliver was preaching in 
Brooklyn, and she was invited to take a Sabbath at 
Passaic, and did. Her congregations were large, and 
such was the interest in her services that she was 
engaged to supply statedly, which she did for several 
months, indeed, until conference, and with evidently 
improved results in all respects. Rev. James Bryan 
then became the pastor, and so continued for two 
years. 

The church was now somewhat recovering from 
the shock given it by its financial failure, and by the 
lamentable distractions and divisions that followed, 
when in the spring of 1879 lt was favored with the 
appointment as its pastor of Rev. James William 
Marshall. Dr. Howe, as well as the church gener- 
ally, found the greatest satisfaction in his ministra- 
tions, and the wisdom of his counsels and management 
at this propitious moment greatly united, strength- 
ened, and encouraged the long distracted flock. 



230 



Life in Passaic. 



On Sunday, the 23d of January, 1881, Dr. Howe 
had reached his seventy-fifth birthday. His pastor, 
Rev. James W. Marshall, and other friends, arranged 
for a complete " surprise" to Dr. Howe. It was 
carefully planned that all the members of the doctor's 
family should be present at the evening service. 
The pastor's sermon or address recounted in brief 
the principal characteristics of early Methodism, the 
early Methodist preachers, and closed with some 
beautiful and appropriate words to aged Christians. 
The mottoes or texts of the discourse were, "There 
were giants in those days," Gen. vi : 4; and "The 
hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the 
way of righteousness," Prov. xvi: 31. At the conclu- 
sion, Charles Wesley's "birthday dedication" hymn 
was sung, beginning : 

God of my life, to thee 

My cheerful soul I raise ; 
Thy goodness bade me be, 

And still prolongs my days : 
I see my natal hour return, 
And bless the day that I was born. 

After which a copy of the following resolution, 
beautifully engrossed, was brought in, read, and, 
with a rising vote, adopted by the congregation : 

Whereas, Dr. Howe has been identified with Methodism 
for more than a half century, preaching in the pulpit as an 



Life in Passaic. 



231 



elder ; greatly assisting in building its churches ; associating 
with its leading men; supporting its educational institutions ; 
and greatly adding to its social prestige and power; and, 

Whereas, He has resided in our midst more than twenty- 
five years, mingling with us in social life, and performing 
part of the time the duties of pastor without compensation 
in a most kind and faithful manner ; and, 

Whereas, He has been eminent as a physician in his spe- 
cialty — saving the lives of hundreds suffering from pulmo- 
nary consumption in its incipient stages, and prolonging the 
lives of hundreds of others more deeply affected, by the use 
of his tube for the inhalation of common air ; and, 

Whereas, He has for more than fifteen years been a trus- 
tee of the Normal School at Trenton, and an honored mem- 
ber of the State Board of Education, fulfilling the duties 
incident to his position with fidelity and marked ability; 
and, 

Whereas, By his personal influence at home his large 
family are all prominent members of the Church of Christ 
and most of them occupy positions of trust in our own 
church ; 

Therefore, We desire to place on record that it may be 
transmitted to posterity our just appreciation of Dr. Howe 
— his character, life, and work. We esteem him most highly 
as a public man, an honored citizen, a distinguished, eloquent, 
and orthodox preacher, a faithful member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, a genial Christian gentleman, and a model 
husband and father. 

We remember with gratitude his long, useful, and spotless 
life ; and his many deeds of private benevolence. 



232 



Life in Passaic. 



We devoutly praise our Heavenly Father that for so long 
a period he has been one of us, honoring the Lord Jesus and 
His Church ; and we earnestly pray that for many years to 
come he may be spared to bless us with his revered and 
faithful counsel, his earnest prayer, and his happy, useful, 
blessed old age. 

Signed, on behalf of the church, 

Jas. W. Marshall, 
Charles A. Church, Pastor. 

Sec. Board of Trustees. 

Dr. Howe briefly, but feelingly and appropriately, 
replied; Whittier's " Eventide" was read; "Jerusa- 
lem, My Happy Home," sung, and the service 
closed. 

On the above interesting occasion there were ap- 
propriate hymns printed on the inside of cards, and 
on the cover was a fine picture of a vessel under full 
sail, entitled "Homeward Bound." The doctor pre- 
served one of these beautiful relics, upon which he 
wrote: "Almost home. January 23, 1884. John M. 
Howe." This was found in his desk by his wife after 
his decease. 

Mr. Marshall was succeeded in 1882 by Rev. San- 
ford Van Benschoten, D. D., who still further carried 
on the good work. Dr. Howe before he died was 
permitted to see the church greatly relieved, with a 
manageable debt, running on a moderate bill of ex- 
penses, having a fair congregation in attendance, 
and an excellent Sunday-school. In fact, it had 



Life in Passaic. 



233 



attained once more to a position of very respectable 
influence in the community. All this was to him an 
unspeakable comfort, for his maturest life had the 
thread of this church history interwoven with its 
every part. 

A year or so before his death, in a letter the occa- 
sion of which led him to retrace somewhat this path 
of sorrow, he repeats his conviction of the follies of 
the time and of the injustice done to himself, but in 
a tone sweetly subdued by charity, closing his re- 
view with the observation, " If I were not under the 
influence of restraining grace, I should write more 
severely, but ' to err is human ; to forgive divine.' I 
finish up on the latter idea." 

The family now, however, had grown to years of 
manhood, and were beginning to scatter as large 
families usually must. Parental affection was being 
called upon to endure a new strain. The children 
away from home came in for a new and perhaps 
stronger affection. Having business and families of 
their own, they seemed all the more capable of re- 
lieving their parents of some long borne cares. In 
this spirit he pours his heart out in a letter to his son 
George, written in 1879. He says : 

"Now just a line. That we feel your absence is a 
fact, and the evening and morning brief chat, and 
Louise's talk and smile. But life's alternations may 
give a keener zest after all to our enjoyments. Life 
is so evanescent; we enjoy the scenery on the banks 

30 



234 



Life in Passaic. 



of the river; the hills, the valleys, the meadows, the 
trees, the landscape, the ever changing views are all 
the more beautiful on account of the variety ; the 
tints and shades, etc., etc., as we glide along in our 
little craft — all is beautiful. 

" So music past is obsolete, 
And yet 't was sweet, 't was passing sweet, 
But now 't is gone away. 

"The boat-song which some negroes in a row-boat 
sang as I and my mother ascended the Savannah 
River in a sailing-ship at night, fully fifty years ago, 
rings out now in memory's ear: 

Master killed a nigger ; Yo he, oh hoe, 
Said he did n't do it, Yo he, oh hoe ; 

reminding me of events long passed, and of persons 
and friends, too, now known only in remembrance. 
The sailing up the Hudson River full thirty or more 
years since, when I was introduced to Mrs. General 
Alexander Hamilton, and we chatted of my father, 
and of Hamilton and Burr; how Burr tried to win 
her sister, etc., and how obnoxious he was to her — 
and of many other items, persons, and things. 

" Bright and dark days make up the atmosphere of 
our lives, joys and sorrows ; but we must hold on to 
the most cheerful views and the bright side to the end. 

A little sun, a little rain, 

And then night sweeps- along the plain, 

And all things fade away. 



Life in Passaic. 



235 



I write you with the idea simply of reminding you that 
you and yours are in our minds and hearts." 

A letter written also to his son George in 1869, 
perhaps, may be added here as leading in the same 
line of thought. Though we pay little regard, in the 
citation, to chronology, it illustrates the feature of 
Dr. Howe's history now passing in review. 

" You are now thrown on your own resources, and 
among strangers. You are learning now more of 
human nature, day by day ; and when you are thor- 
oughly informed concerning men, then, from your 
inmost soul, you will pity the whole race. Strong 
trust in God, communion with Him from moment to 
moment, and the study of His Word, a committing 
one's self into His hands, and constantly seeking His 
guidance and direction, and then calling into requisi- 
tion all one's own powers, whether physical, or men- 
tal, or moral, or altogether, and a constant mistrust 
of one's own heart, and of men and of the devil, is 
my idea of prosecuting life's journey. There is not 
a single passage in all the Bible that teaches one to 
put his trust in man ; the entire revelation exhibits 
human nature as it is, and although the grace of God 
has recovered many souls who in life show it to the 
praise of God, yet the vast majority of professors of 
religion are but partially recovered. This is true of 
all professions, without exception. 

" Bid me of men beware, 
And to my ways take heed." 



X. 



NEARING THE OTHER SHORE. 

While man is growing, life is in decrease ; 
And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb. 
Our birth is but our death begun, 
As tapers waste the instant they take fire. 

SELDOM does the history of a human life more 
nearly actualize this familiar conception of the 
poet than did the life of Dr. John M. Howe. For 
long periods his living seemed to be but a slow and 
painful process of dying. These printed pages reveal 
this fact, but it is far more evident in all his formal 
correspondence and private records. As he began 
to grow old, life appeared to him more and more 
like a narrowing stream, where the banks were each 
day less and less separated. Oftentimes, from the 

236 



N earing the Other Shore. 237 



shore upon which he was walking, he could almost 
see on the other side persons once so beloved on 
earth, and he had a distinct vision of the beauties of 
the land into which he had not yet actually entered. 
The indications of this disposition to mark his ad- 
vance, and to note and prepare for its close, become 
apparent in many ways. We find him copying and 
clipping, from almost every quarter, exceedingly 
beautiful and impressive sentiments in regard to life 
and its problems, old age, death, and heaven. He 
also, every once in a while, according to his usual 
methods, dots down in his note-books his own 
thoughts as to his present bearings amid the shad- 
ows of old age. The golden glories of these slant- 
ing rays of an almost setting sun fall in beautiful 
mellowness across our vision, and we are scarcely 
surprised to find that if clouds gather about this de- 
clining day, it is only to enrich it. 

The first citation we make in this direction is from 
a record, made just subsequent to the occurrence of 
events of very great interest to Dr. Howe. The new 
church at Passaic had just been dedicated. Very dear 
friends, such as the generous, noble, and devoted 
Ralph Mead and Mrs. Lydia B. Lane, widow of Rev. 
George Lane, book agent of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, had fallen into the grave. He was solemn, 
for he was evidently following hard after them. But 
this anticipation did not make him gloomy. Death 
had lost its horrors to him, and there was much be- 



238 N earing the Other Shore. 

yond it that he loved and for which he longed. On 
a Sunday morning in 1866, perhaps in the month of 
May, he writes as follows : 

" Bright and glorious morning, foliage grand, 
birds singing, family prayers, my soul is peaceful 
and resting in hope. Glory be to God, a quiet, 
unperturbed repose of mind, a prelibation of the fut- 
ure rest. Full of cares, full of responsibilities, yet 
resting. Many of my friends have died ; my once 
numerous relatives on my mother's and father's side 
are nearly all gone, and I am the next in order to 
depart. I was licensed as an exhorter in Oswego in 
1833, as a local preacher in Greene street, New York, 
in 1836, and during the years that have intervened, 
with the exception of those seasons when I was very 
unwell, as the Sabbath approached my mind was ex- 
ercised on my preparations for the pulpit; but for the 
last few months circumstances have changed, and now 
the Sabbath approaches and there are no longer any 
openings for me to preach. No need; every nook 
seems filled. Although my mind is clear, enlarged, 
the work never pleasanter or sweeter, the way is not 
now open. This is life — a changing scene. How 
important to work while we can, while the oppor- 
tunity is present. When I first began to preach it 
was a great cross. I felt so incompetent, so fearful. 
So weak was I that on entering the pulpit my knees 
shook, and my hands would tremble as they tried 
to hold the hymn-book. But when I commenced 



Nearing the Other Shore. 



239 



the services, I was always strengthened. Many times 
I have gone to the pulpit in such feeble health that 
it has seemed to me as if the effort would be the last 
I should ever make. I often preached on the very 
verge of the grave — of eternity. But the Lord won- 
derfully propped the house of clay, and for over 
thirty years I have gone from pulpit to pulpit and 
preached, while many strong men have been cut off 
in their full manhood. I have one appointment to 
preach in Kingston, N. Y., on the 16th of June next, 
as president of the New York Conference Local 
Preachers' Association. This done, I know of none 
other. On some accounts, I feel sad that my work 
seems to be done. But, by God's help, I acquiesce 
in the Divine dispensations. Oh ! what conflicts of 
mind I passed through in my earlier preparations 
and efforts at preaching, and now that I love to 
preach what a struggle it costs to consent to be laid 
aside. Darkness and sadness have at times filled my 
soul ; 

But a warm sunbeam from a higher sphere 
Steals through the gloom and dries up every tear ; 
Is this thy will, good Lord ? The strife is o'er, 
Thy servant weeps no more. 

" He doeth all things well. There is with all 
things earthly a beginning, a progress, a zenith, a 
decline, a goal. But grace can adapt man to every 
stage of his being, even to its end. The greatest of 



240 N earing the Other Shore. 



men have not only risen to eminence and power, but, 
in a like Divine order, have decayed and gone. Even 
the Saviour himself descended to suffering and death. 

I beheld thee, oh, my Lord and God, 
Beneath the cross lay down the shepherd's rod; 
His own garments once were torn away ; 
To the rude soldiery, a sport and prey. 

"There is a loneliness of spirit at times steals 
upon me. The preachers of my early days, in whose 
sympathy and affection I shared, have almost all 
passed over the stream. Younger men occupy the 
positions, whose sympathies flow in other channels. 
As it was with Israel in Egypt, 'and there arose 
another King, who knew not Joseph ' ; but it is all 
well. God's ways are all right, and with a cheerful 
heart I would resign myself to all His ordering." 

He saw life evidently slipping from his grasp, the 
generation to which he belonged disappearing, his 
loves fading from view, what he had been and done 
being fast forgotten by the busy, hopeful throng 
about him. No further need of him. But it was 
not easy to unloose his hold. This was but the be- 
ginning of that mighty strife between flesh and 
spirit that was to continue for nearly a score of years 
yet, till his whole nature, mellowed, loving, forgetful 
of wrong, beautiful in its every love and hope, passed 
from human view, within the curtain, to the holy of 
holies, there to behold and to be with Christ and the 



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Nearing the Other Shore. 



241 



friends who had gone before. Even before he com- 
pletes the record from which the above is an extract, 
he calls all this struggle a temptation, declares that 
it shows he is not yet dead to the world and flesh, 
and praying for Divine help and deliverance he rec- 
ognizes the Divine discipline in all that through 
which he was passing. It will not be necessary to 
multiply extracts of this nature, although they abound 
in his notes. All the long years of his retirement 
from business he was evidently expecting the sum- 
mons. As he grew older and more feeble, more ex- 
act provisions were made for his severance from his 
dear ones. The great house which had so long been 
their homestead was evidently unsuited to be the 
home of a widow, all of whose children had families ; 
hence, he proceeded to erect a smaller and more con- 
venient home, which is now the family center. He 
was careful to plant there trees and shrubbery, and 
would often say, "I may never eat of the fruit of 
these trees, but those who survive me may be glad 
to have it." Both fruit and shade trees in great 
numbers adorn and enrich the gardens and highways 
of Passaic that would not have been there but for his 
instrumentality. 

About three years before his death, a compara- 
tively slight attack of paralysis was the warning that 
the end was at hand. Indeed, from that stroke he 
slowly but perceptibly lost strength. To both him- 
self and his family he was manifestly failing. That 

31 



242 



Nearing the Other Shore. 



he was fully aware of his condition was manifest 
from frequent remarks, and from his carefulness to 
have all the minutiae possible settled for the comfort 
and well-being of his family after his departure. 

As he passed around during these few last months 
of his life, never did he feel such sympathy for the 
poor, and never were the grandchildren apparently 
such objects of affection to him. Sometimes taking 
one of his children as a companion, he would quite 
extend those visits of kindness and relief. He could 
not bear to hear a harsh word said of any one. He 
was always considerate of the poor. During his last 
illness he charged his wife never at the Sacramental 
occasions to omit putting a sum he specified on the 
plate for him, emphasizing it "for me" which she did, 
and she does it yet, for him, wondering if he knows of 
her doing. His widow will never forget many precious 
things that he said in these last days of consciousness. 
But they are too sacred even for this private memoir. 
He was especially fond of singing the hymns of the 
Methodist hymn-book, and it was often said of him 
that "he knew the hymn-book by heart." After he 
was confined to bed, he would call for the Hymnal, 
and either hold it in the one hand he could use or 
more frequently ask one of the children to read or 
sing to him from it. Then he would take the book 
from their hand, and lovingly turn it down opened on 
the bed within his reach. Even after he had gone 
into a comatose state, the Hymnal was lying on the 



N earing the Other Shore. 



243 



bed opened, as his daughter Ernie had placed it, after 
reading to him one of the new hymns of the book 
from the pen of the immortal Faber, and evidently 
expressive of the greatest satisfaction of soul in the 
measureless goodness, mercy, and justice of the infi- 
nite Jehovah. The hymn begins : 

There 's a wideness in God's mercy, 

Like the wideness of the sea, 
There 's a kindness in his justice 

Which is more than liberty. 

He always found satisfaction in the lyrics of the 
Church, especially when expressed by melodious voices 
in the familiar strains of Zion. 

His son Charles writes as follows: " On the last 
Sunday before father's death, I went up to see him 
just before going to Sunday-school. He was very 
weak, but seemed cheerful. He asked me to sing 
something. I asked him what to sing, and he said, 
'Tell me the old, old story.' So my sister and I 
sang it. As we sang the chorus, where it says, 
' 'T will be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old 
story,' etc., father tried to join with us. At the close 
he said: 'Yes, I '11 soon be there,' and he repeated 
the two lines, *'T will be my theme in glory,' etc. 
He then said to me, 'I wish you would request the 
Sunday-school to sing that piece for me to-day.' I 
was the superintendent, and told the above incident 



244 N earing the Other Shore. 

to the school, and asked them to sing that hymn at 
the, probably, dying request of father They did sing 
it very feelingly, and there were many wet eyes 
among the singers. The last sentence father spoke 
was a day or two previous to his death, and was 
this: 'It is all right,' being in answer to a question 
by me as to his condition." 

His son George writes as follows : 

"About ten days before he was stricken down, I 
went from Newark to Passaic, via Peru, and tele- 
graphed him to send a carriage to meet me there, 
as was my custom. On the arrival of the train, I 
was surprised to find father himself in his buggy 
waiting for me, for the day was cold and blustering. 
After our greetings, on my expressing surprise at 
his being there, — in fact, out at all on such a day, — 
he said, ' I came because I wanted to talk with you 
alone, and your stay is of necessity so short, and so 
many of the family claim you, etc., that I want to 
make sure of the opportunity.' He then said, 1 1 
shall not be with you long, and I want to say a few 
things to you/ I tried to divert his mind by saying, 
as I had many times before, that he could not tell ; 
that we hoped years of contentment and rest were 
before him ; but he stopped me, saying, ' No, listen 
to me.' Then briefly recounting his life, and dwell- 
ing on the mercies that had crowned it ; on the fact 
that he had lived to see his plans accomplished, etc., 



N earing the Other Shore. 245 



as few men had — his children had all grown up and 
were filling the various stations in which Providence 
had placed them in an acceptable manner, etc., and 
were all loving and dutiful. That he had been en- 
abled to build a house for mother during the last 
year where she wanted it and as she wanted it, so 
much more adapted to their needs than was the old 
homestead, so that when he was gone she would 
have a comfortable home, and that he was able to 
leave her a comfortable income. That he had been 
able to make a will, just and equitable, by which 
each one of the children would come into possession 
of some unimproved real estate, which they could 
either sell or hold, as they saw fit, thus reducing 
the expense of running the estate without reducing 
the income, and as by this will all unexpended bal- 
ance of income became a part of the principal each 
year, the longer the general division was postponed 
the more there would be to divide, etc. 

"Then assuring me that 'it is all right/ that he 
was ready to go when the summons came, that 
Christ's righteousness was imputed to him, not for 
any worthiness that was in him, but because of His 
infinite mercy, he said: 'When I am gone, remem- 
ber what I say, and let all my children show their 
respect and love for their father by standing in their 
places and at once taking up the duties of life. Let 
there be no term of mourning. If my daughters choose 
to leave off colors for a time, I have no objection ; but 



246 



N earing the Other Shore. 



let there be no crape veils, etc. If my sons choose 
to put crape on their hats as a token of respect, let 
it be so ; but the world must move on, and life's duties 
must be met, and remember that as Christians you 
look beyond the grave to the bright hereafter. For 
there is a Divine reality in the religion of Jesus 
Christ.' He then gave directions as to his funeral. 
He desired it as plain and simple as possible — no 
flowers, no elaborate casket or expensive fittings — 
nothing to delay the return of dust to dust. 

"He had always felt that expensive funerals were 
wrong, and said much on this line. He wished his 
four sons to act as bearers, but to have two or three 
strong men to do the lifting that might be necessary — 
thoughtful, considerate, tender as ever. We walked 
the horse for most of the way home, and lingered at 
the barn, and on the way from it to the house, that 
he might complete what he had to say. Having done 
so, he seemed greatly relieved. I said to him, if I 
survived him, I would faithfully endeavor to carry 
out his wishes to the utmost of my ability, but that I 
hoped that the day was much more distant than he 
thought, when it would be necessary for me to do 
anything more than remember them. He said, ' No, 
the time is near, and it is all right/ And so we en- 
tered the house, and joined mother and the family. 
He was as bright and interested in all the details of 
family matters, asking as to my own family and busi- 
ness, etc., as though nothing so serious and solemn 



N earing the Other Shore. 247 

had just passed between us. And, as after an hour 
or two I took my departure, he expressed the great- 
est satisfaction at having seen me and had a talk with 
me, adding that it always gave him pleasure to see 
me, but that I must not feel as though I must come 
to see him at stated intervals ; he knew how confin- 
ing and exacting my business was, but that I must 
just come when I could, and so I left him, never 
more to see him in health again." 

When the fatal stroke of paralysis came, he had 
recently left his desk, where an unfinished letter to 
Rev. Dr. Buckley, in regard to his father's part in 
the Revolutionary War, was afterwards found. He 
never resumed his pen but for a single signature. 
He regained consciousness, and was able to speak 
with difficulty for some days, but his left side was 
powerless, though his mind was clear, and he was 
exceedingly appreciative of whatever was done for 
him. Now he desired to go, rather than to remain. 
During these few last days and nights, his expres- 
sions of appreciation of every effort to make him 
comfortable, his manifest dread of being a burden 
to the loving ones who had no thought but to con- 
duce to his comfort, and his prayers that he might 
go quickly, were very frequent and touchingly beau- 
tiful and are ineffaceably impressed on the minds of 
all who heard them. Then came a few days in 
which his mind seemed beclouded, and from which 



2 4 8 



N earing the Other Shore. 



he passed into unconsciousness. Mrs. Howe and 
all the children, except Ella (who was in Mexico 
with her husband, who was fast declining with con- 
sumption), were at his bedside as he breathed his last, 
at about 4:10 p. m., Thursday, February 5, 1885, as 
quietly as though falling asleep. So gently did he 
pass away that it could scarcely be told at what 
moment he ceased to breathe. 

The funeral services were held at his home, Rev. 
Jas. W. Marshall officiating, assisted by Rev. James 
M. Freeman, D. D. A large number of relatives 
and friends were present. He was buried in Cedar 
Lawn Cemetery, on the banks of Dundee Lake, be- 
tween Passaic and Paterson, in a plot selected by 
himself as his last resting-place. In accordance with 
his wishes, that no elaborate monument should be 
erected, a simple block of granite marks the spot, 
with this inscription : 

JOHN M. HOWE, M. D. 
Born Jan. 23, 1806, 
Died Feb. 5, 1885. 

" I am the Resurrection and the Life." 

We prefer to conclude our chapter in the language 
of intimate friends ; and first, we extract a few words 
from a letter since Dr. Howe's death, by Prof. Isaac 



N earing the Other Shore. 



249 



T. Goodnow, of Manhattan, Kansas. The professor 
in earlier life was associated with the now surviving 
widow in educational work at Wilbraham Academy, 
and upon her marriage to the doctor entered also 
upon intimacy with him, which remained unbroken 
to the last. The professor says of Dr. Howe : 

"His mind was clear and his heart was warm 
towards his friends and was ever uplifted to his 
Heavenly Father with unshaken reliance for his 
acceptance upon the atonement of his blessed 
Saviour. He was well prepared to live or to die. 
For him death had no terrors. With Christ to lean 
on, he could walk through the dark valley and fear 
no evil. Few men have left such a record for daily 
and consistent piety. He walked constantly as in 
the presence of his Redeemer and Friend, and I think 
his death, if his mind was clear, must have been 
more like a translation than a yielding to the grim 
monster. Most assuredly he must have exemplified 
in full that glorious promise, 'Blessed are the dead 
which die in the Lord from henceforth ; Yea, saith the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their 
works do follow them/ I have been acquainted 
with a good many Christian men, more or less inti- 
mately, but never have I found one whose daily life 
and thoughts were more up to the standard of living 
constantly for the Lord and as in His immediate 
presence." 
32 



250 N earing the Other Shore. 

We make another extract, from a letter of Rev. J. 
Paschal Strong, formerly and for many years pastor 
of the Reformed Church in Passaic, and, at the time 
of Dr. Howe's decease, pastor at Cohoes, N. Y. It 
is dated February 6, 1885. He says: 

"The morning paper brings me the sad news of 
the death of your beloved husband; my dear, good, 
faithful friend. How many precious memories does 
his departure bring up to my mind : in all my long 
acquaintance with him (now twenty-nine years) 
there is only brightness and blessing. Fidelity was 
his strong characteristic ; it burned equally in him 
through his useful life ; and then he was so pure and 
true, unselfish, generous, and loving; full of all re- 
fined instincts — and then so gentle; affectionate 
without envy or jealousy ; and yet not wanting in 
moral firmness. How grateful to him will be the so- 
ciety, the rest of heaven : he was so long ripening 
for the skies, and so many were there waiting for 
him. You will be very lonely and desolate; but the 
'Widow's God' will be your shield, provider, friend, 
refuge. 

"Promises will open new meanings to you now; 
this trial will make them more consolatory, more 
significant : like a drifting night-cloud enhancing the 
sparkle of a star. Heaven will seem nearer as Di- 
vine love makes earth more drear, and God's Spirit 
will soothe and strengthen thee to lift up this heavy 



Nearing the Other Shore, 251 

cross and carry it. Fear not ; this is the way to the 
matchless glory ; through the mists and clouds ' the 
day dawns'; behind the curtain of night shines the 
unchanging, unending morning of paradise. How 
I would love to be at the funeral, and give my testi- 
mony to his worth, and tell all he was to me in my 
pastorate at Passaic — how his kind heart cheered me, 
and his deep tenderness was often a balm of comfort 
to my soul. But this privilege will be denied me." 

The following tribute is from the pen of Rev. 
James William Marshall, of the Newark Conference, 
who was pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Passaic from 1879 to 1882 : 

"It was my privilege to be intimately acquainted 
with Dr. Howe during most of the eventide of his 
life. Through that period I had ample opportunity 
of seeing his daily life ; noting the force of his char- 
acter, and its influence on the community in which 
he lived. 

"One day when we were riding together he said to 
me, Tn looking back over my life I am so glad that 
I have been on the right side of all the great moral 
reforms through which the nation has passed. I like 
to look back because God put a heart into me to 
help the weak and oppressed.' And so it was; he 
had opposed slavery, intemperance, dishonesty, so- 
cial impurity, bribery, and kindred other evils. Be- 



252 N earing the Other Shore. 

cause he had done so, the backward look was very- 
pleasant. My soul exulted with his in its review of 
such blessed triumphs; and, I think, at the same 
moment caught a little of the glow of such an inspi- 
ration. 

" Carlyle has said, 'That a man's religion is the 
chief fact in regard to him.' Deeply impressed on 
my mind is the strength, dignity, purity, and lovable- 
ness of this good man. 

" Dr. Howe's religious experience was so full and 
overflowing that it made him a pronounced optimist 
in nearly all his views of life. He enjoyed the con- 
scious pardon of sin ; the witness of the Spirit ; and 
the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the 
Holy Ghost. Like many of the early Methodists, 
he found all he wanted for his soul in the merits of 
Christ's death. The atonement entered profoundly 
into his daily experience. Hence he would often say 
in the weekly prayer-meeting of the church, 

Every moment, Lord, I have 
The merit of thy death. 

"This abiding faith promoted in him a cheerful- 
ness of disposition and buoyancy of hope which were 
most refreshing to his friends. 

"A public service was held in the church on his 
seventy-fifth birthday. It was the testimonial of the 
people of Passaic to more than a quarter century of 



Nearing the Other Shore. 



253 



righteous living. His modest answers to the words 
of praise from voice and pen linger in the mind as a 
pleasant memory. His pure and useful life had been 
a moral uplift to the people of the place and they 
gathered in large numbers to do him honor. 

" His methods of doing good were unique. Two or 
three of them may be mentioned. He kept in his 
library a supply of useful books. As opportunity 
offered, he would present one of them to a young 
man or woman. A glance at the title would immedi- 
ately suggest its fitness to the needs of the receiver. 
In calling upon the sick and unfortunate he showed 
great sympathy and aptness. In this particular he 
was a minister of unusual power. He would take in 
the needs of the sufferer as by intuition ; and, before 
he left, his wise counsel, deep sympathy, and remark- 
able power in prayer would all combine to lift the 
soul nearer to God and promote in the sufferer con- 
tentment and hope. In this line of Christian work I 
have learned from him many a valuable lesson of 
skill and helpfulness. Pity to him was not a 
stranger but a familiar companion; and doing good 
was one of the occupations of his life. To assist 
young men and women in getting an education was 
another marked feature of his philanthropy. Some of 
the subjects of his beneficence are now teachers and 
ministers. But for the large financial demands the 
home church made on him he would have been delight- 
ed to have spent much more money in this direction. 



254 



Nearing the Other Shore, 



" Dr. Howe's old age was remarkably green and 
beautiful. The words of inspiration were forcibly 
illustrated in his closing years, ' And thine age shall 
be clearer than the noonday ; thou shalt shine forth, 
thou shalt be as the morning/ As the sun in the 
heavens gives out light and heat, so his presence 
in the congregation, in the pulpit, in his home, and 
in the homes of his children shone forth in rays of 
light, peace, gladness, and hope. And when the end 
came, and his familiar and imposing figure was no 
longer seen on the streets of the city, all the people 
believed him to have been a good man, and that 
death to him was eternal exaltation. 

" Servant of God, well done ! 
Thy glorious warfare 's past ; 
The battle 's fought, the race is won, 
And thou art crowned at last." 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

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Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 




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